Evaluation of Seed Yield and Genetic Divergence in the Germplasms of Pisum sativum L. var. arvense

Abstract

Keeping in view the prime objective of the plant breeding programmes is to make an improvement in yield of field pea (Pisum sativum L. var. arvense), the present investigation was undertaken to work out the direct and indirect effects of characters on seed yield by path coefficient analysis and by non-hierarchical Euclidean cluster analysis to study the genetic divergence among the one hundred twenty four field pea genotypes. Path coefficient analyses were estimated on phenotypic as well as genotypic levels to resolve the direct and indirect effects of different characters on seed yield of field pea. The overall review of the result obtained by genetic diversity study in present investigation revealed that the crosses between the entries separated by the large inter-cluster distances and having high cluster mean values for one or other character to be improved is likely to be more useful. The maximum contribution in manifestation of total genetic divergence were made by plant height (76%) followed by days to maturity (9%). The minimum contribution of days to 50% flowering (1%) and 100-seed weight (1%) toward genetic divergence. The role of number of pods/plant (2%), biological yield/plant (6%), harvest index (5%) were medium range in manifestation of total genetic divergence in the available germplasms