Assessment of genetic diversity of agro-morphological traits in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) using multivariate analysis

Abstract

Chickpea is extensively cultivated in India; however, its productivity remains considerably lower due to the limited genetic diversity of high yielding genotypes within the available germplasm. A broad genetic base is essential for any effective breeding programme aimed at developing high-yielding and resilient varieties. The agro-morphological characterisation was carried out by using 124 chickpea genotypes at Regional Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura, Sopore, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K) during rabi season of 2018–19. The experiment was laid out in augmented design and estimated genetic divergence by using Tocher’s clustering method. The cumulative variance accounted for by all components was 86 %. The D2 values were ranged from 8.77 to 154.27 and cluster analysis categorised genotypes into 14 distinct groups with cluster I accommodate maximum (60) genotypes and minimum in cluster XIV (1 genotype). Highest inter cluster distance (154.27) was found between the clusters, II and XII and minimum inter cluster distance (16.88) was between clusters, XIII and XIV. The trait 100-seed weight was the maximum contributor towards genetic divergence (40.25 %) and lowest was pod width (1.02 %). The FLIP12-56C (38.4 g) exhibited highest seed yield per plant followed by FLIP12-22C (35.8 g) and FLIP12-70C (35.6 g). The diverse high yielding genotypes identified in this study represent valuable genetic resources that can be effectively utilised in future chickpea improvement programmes aimed at enhancing yield and stress resilience.