GENETIC DIVERSITY ON THE BASIS OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC AND YIELD RELATED TRAITS IN CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETlNUM L.)

Abstract

Genetic diversity was assessed in a collection of 52 tmebreeding advanced generation lines and two check varieties of chickpea on the basis of photosynthetic and yield related traits, including nodulation parameters to identify physiologically efficient types. The study revealed enormous diversity in the material as indicated by the wide range of D2 values from 53.9 (between the genotypes ICCV 90125 and ICCV 90127) to 15054.0 (between the genotypes ICVV90103 and ICCV90113). The genotypes fell in nine clusterswhen grouped using the Tocher's method. ClusterVhad thehighestnumberofgenotypes. The intercluster distances ranged from 339.4 between clusters I and V to 15054.0 between VIII and IX. The cluster means for different characters were worked out and the future strategies are discussed after identifying genotypes as potential sources of genes for photosynthetic and yield related traits.