Genetic Diversity Analysis of Common Bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) Collected From North West Himalaya for Agro-Morphological Traits

Abstract

Understanding of genetic diversity among the genotypes is the mainstay of plant breeding. The present study was carried out to determine genetic divergence among 59 common beans genotypes collected from North West Himalaya for nine agromorphological traits. The analysis of variance depicted significant variability among genotypes for all the traits under study indicating wide range of variability present in bean genotypes. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) was high for seed yield per plant followed by days to bud initiation. High heritability was also observed for all traits except pod length. Cluster analysis grouped bean genotypes into five distinct clusters. The genotypes under group II, III, V have more number of pods per plant, seeds per pod and single plant yield which can be utilized as potential donors for enhancing the yield of other genotypes in breeding programmes. Hence, the selection based on these yield contributing traits may helpful in future crop improvement programmes