GENETIC ANALYSIS AND INTERRELATIONSHIP OF YIELD ATTRIBUTING TRAITS IN CHICKPEA ( C icer arietinum L.)

Twenty chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes were evaluated for genetic potential, heritability, genetic advance and traits association of yield contributing characters during 2010-2011, at The University of Agriculture, Peshawar. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block (RCB) design with three replications. Data were recorded on days to 50% flowering, pods per plant, seeds per pod, number of primary branches plant-1 , number of secondary branches plant-1 , 100-seed weight and seed yield plant-1 . Analysis of variance revealed significant (P<0.01) variation among genotypes for all the studied characters. Broad sense heritability estimates were highest for pods per plant (0.88), primary branches plant-1 (0.83), 100-seed weight (0.82), seed yield plant-1 (0.75) and secondary branches plant-1 (0.77). Genetic advance was higher for pods per plant (40.14), seed yield plant -1 (38.24%), primary branches plant-1 (36.64%) and secondary branches plant-1 (30.25%). Seed yield plant-1 showed highly significant genetic as well as phenotypic correlation with pods per plant, number of primary branches plant-1 , secondary branches plant-1 and 100-seed weight in positive direction. To conclude, pods per plant, number of primary branches, number of secondary branches and 100- seed weight would be the appropriate selection criteria for better seed yield in chickpea.