Vegetos

Abstract

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a very important leguminous crop consumed both as vegetable and as dry seeds (pulse). The possibility of improvement in any crop is measured by variability available in the crop. An attempt was made to study the extent of genetic variability in Pisum germplasm collected from diverse sources, including some notified varieties as well as indigenous and wild accessions. A set of these forty eight genotypes was sown in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications during rabi 2015–16. The data on different morphological traits viz., days to 50% flowering, plant height (cm), branches/plant, pods/plant, grams/pod, average pod weight (g), pod length (cm), pod diameter (mm), total soluble solids (°brix), powdery mildew resistance (PMR) and yield per plant (g) were recorded. The analysis of variance for design of experiment revealed significant differences for all the traits under study, indicating that the germplasm used was genetically diverse. In the present investigation there was only a slight difference between PCV and GCV for majority of traits indicating that environmental factors have little influence on the expression of these traits and thus offers ample scope for improvement. The genotypic coefficient of variance (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variance (PCV) were found high for pods per plant, plant height and pod yield per plant suggesting high potential of improvement of these traits by selection. These traits also showed high heritability coupled with high genetic advance thus suggesting the role of additive gene action for the inheritance of these traits and are thus likely to respond better to selection. The data on powdery mildew screening categorized twenty three genotypes as resistant/tolerant. These lines can further be validated and exploited for identification of novel genes.