Evaluation of Chickpea Genotypes for Yield and Selected Agronomic Traits in Kenya

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important source of vegetable protein in the world. It is a relatively new crop in Kenya and limited information is available on genetic variation for agronomic and yield traits. The determination of genetic variations, association among traits and seed yield is a pre-requisite for a breeding programme aimed at improvement of chickpea. The objectives of this study were to assess the genotypic variation for agronomic and yield traits and analyse the association among agronomic traits and determineseed yield. Fifty eight desi and 37 kabuli genotypes including two check varieties foreachtype were used for this study. Replicated field experiments were conducted in the long and short rain seasons of 2013 at Kabete and Juja using alpha lattice design. Data on agro-morphological traits were recorded using descriptors for chickpea. Data were analysed using SAS, 2013 (second edition)and Gen-Stat, 2014(release 15.1). Genotypes and genotype by environment interactions were highly significantly different(p < 0.001) for all studied traits. Mean values for the studied traits varied among genotypes and across environments. Genotypeshad different ranking for most agronomic traits across environments which indicated a crossover type of genotype by environment interactions. Flowering, maturity time, number of branches plant -1, plant canopy width, number of pods plant -1, total biomass yield ha -1, seed yield ha - 1 and 100 seed weight were the main discriminating traits for both desi and kabuli types.Genotype ICC 9636 exceeded the check varieties for seed yield ha -1among desitype genotypes. The desitype also varied for six out of eight qualitative traits. Seed yield ha -1was positively and significantlycorrelated(p < 0.05) with biomass yield ha -1, pod filling period, number ofpods plant -1, number of primary and secondary branches plant -1 but negatively correlated with days to 50 % flowering and podding.For kabulitype of chickpea, the highest yielding genotypes were ICCV 05315, ICC 13461 and ICCV 07313.Seven and thirty seven genotypes exceeded the check varieties ICCV 00305and ICCV 92318 respectively. Genotypes further varied for six qualitative traits for kabulitype of chickpea. Seed yield ha -1showed positive and highly significantcorrelation(p < 0.001) with total biomass yield ha -1, number of pods plant -1, plant canopy width and number of secondary branches plant -1 but not significantly correlated with the other traits. The characters that were positively and significantly correlated with seed yield could be used for indirect selection of high yielding chickpea genotypes. The presence of substantial variations, the positively and significantly correlated traits with seed yield and a crossover type of genotype by environment interactions can be exploited in breeding programmes for improvement of chickpea in the region.