Genetic Variability Studies for Yield and Yield-Attributing Traits in Cowpea Germplasm Accessions (Vigna Unguiculata L. Walp.)

Abstract

A set of 153 cowpea germplasm accessions were evaluated under the augmented design at Zonal Agricultural Research Station, Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra (GKVK), Bengaluru during Kharif 2022 to study genetic variability for yield-related traits. High phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) for pods plant -1 , plant height, primary branches plant -1 , clusters plant -1 , pods cluster -1 , seed yield plant -1 and 100 seed weight, high genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for pods plant -1 , plant height, primary branches plant -1 , clusters plant -1 , pods cluster -1 , seed yield plant -1 and 100 seed weight were observed. PCV was relatively higher than GCV and the difference between the phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation was narrow for all the traits under consideration indicating higher genetic variability. The plant height, primary branches plant -1 , pods cluster -1 , pods plant -1 , seeds pod -1 , 100 seed weight and seed yield plant -1 had high heritability implying that these traits are highly inherited and environmental factors have little influence on trait expression. Selection practiced based on these characters is inherited efficiently by the next generation. k-means clustering analysis conducted for genetic divergence assessment categorized the accessions into eleven clusterswith the number of accessions per cluster varying from 4 to 29 indicating substantial genetic diversity among the accessions.