Fifty three germplasm of chickpea were undertaken to determine relationships among yield and some yield components using direct (variability, heritability, and genetic advance) and indirect selection parameters (correlation and path coefficient analysis). The present investigation was carried out at the Agriculture Research Farm of Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi during the rabi season of 2011-12. Significant genetic variations were observed among the genotypes for days to flower, days to maturity, plant height, number of branches plant -1 , number of pods plant -1 , 100-seed weight and seed yield plant -1 . Correlation studies revealed that seed yield was positively and significantly correlated with number of primary branches, number of secondary branches and number of pods plant -1. The path coefficient analysis based on seed yield, as a dependent variable, showed that pods plant -1 had the greatest direct effect on seed yield (0.81) followed by number of secondary branches. Both correlation and path analysis indicated that pods plant -1 and number of secondary branches were the major direct contributors to seed yield.

A total of sixty-six germplasm lines were crossed with five CMS lines, where two belong to A 4 cytoplasm, while other three belong to A 2 cytoplasm. On the basis of pollen fertility test as well as good pod setting, of 330 hybrids, 34 restorer lines were observed in ICPA 2043 and 19 in ICPA 2092. Thirteen germplasm lines restored fertility in both the A 4 CMS lines, viz. ICPA 2043 and ICPA 2092; however, none of the lines restored fertility in A 2 CMS lines. For confirmation of result, restoration competence of identified lines tested subsequently 2 years at two different temperatures. The segregation patterns for fertility restoration studied in F 2 and BC 1 F 1 generations of selected ten crosses. Six crosses indicated the involvement of two major genes with recessive epistasis, three crosses confirmed dominant epistasis, and one cross indicated the involvement of duplicate recessive epistasis. The obtained results from this study will hasten the future three-line breeding programme and lead the hybrid technology to the farmers' field with the better exploitation of CMS lines.

No abstract

No abstract