Author(s): Banoth Srikanth, Shiva Nath, Abhinav Yadav, Suraj Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar Yadav

Abstract: A study was carried out during the Rabi season of 2021-2022 on chickpea crops at the Genetics and Plant Breeding Research Farm of Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology in Narendra Nagar, Kumarganj, Ayodhya, focusing on late sown conditions. The experiment involved 37 genotypes, including four check varieties (GNG 2299, Pant G 186, BG 372, KPG 59), and employed a Randomized Block Design with three replications. The recorded data subjected to Analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences in days to maturity among replications. Treatments showed significant variations in all observed characteristics. Generally, the phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) exceeded the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all traits, with the highest values observed in seed yield per plant. The Mahalanobis D² cluster analysis categorized the 37 genotypes into six distinct clusters, indicating genetic diversity in the germplasm collection. Divergence analysis identified six clusters with genotypes of diverse origins, suggesting no clear correlation between genetic and geographic diversity. Clusters II and VI exhibited particularly high inter-cluster distances. Results confirms that genotypes BG 4001, Bidhan chana 1, JG 2018-51 in cluster Ⅲ performing high yields of all the genotypes under late sown conditions. Further PCA analysis revealed that PC1 responsible to maximum percentage in total variation followed by PC2 and PC3. The primary contributors to total genetic divergence were secondary branches per plant, followed by harvest index.

DOI: 10.33545/26174693.2024.v8.i3g.792