Mohammad Aktar-Uz-Zaman
Senior Scientific Officerr
Pulses Research Centre, BARI, Ishurdi, Pabna
Mohammad Mostafa KAMAL
Senior Scientific Officer
Pulses Research Centre, BARI, Ishurdi, Pabna
In plant breeding, genetic diversity is an important component for crop improvement. An experiment was conducted at Ishurdi, Pabna (Bangladesh) to study the diversity and variability within the core germplasm collection of 93 chickpea accessions, and a total of 13 qualitative and 12 quantitative characteristics were studied. Among the qualitative characteristics more significant variations were observed in plant pigmentation, growth habit, flower color, seed color, seed shape, and texture. A total of 93 accessions were divided into eight clusters. The genotypes in Cluster IV and Cluster VIII were crossed with genotypes in Cluster I and Cluster VII for better yield performance. Correlation co-efficient study was done among the 12 quantitative characters with yield performance of the studied chickpea germplasm. Significant and positive correlation was observed among the days to 50% flowering, branches per plant, pods per plant, seeds per pod, straw yield, but significant and negative correlation was observed among the days to maturity, plant height, canopy width and hundred seeds weight within the yield performance of studied chickpea germplasm. Simultaneously, a more distinguished morphological diversity was found in number of pods per plant, grain yield per plant(g), 100-seed weight (g), harvest index and plant canopy height (cm) among the twelve quantitative traits of 93 chickpea accession. The chickpea accessions BD-6051, BD-6058, BD-6557, BD-6214, BD-6221, BD-6235, BD-6460, BD-6461, BD-6470, BD-6471, BD-6472, BD-6473, BD-6478, BD-6480, BD-6481, 6483, BD-6484, BD-6488, BD- 6491, BD-6500, BD-6505, and BD-6513 could be considered for crop improvement through the future breeding program of chickpea.
Cicer arietinum, characterizarion, Germplasm, Morphological diversity
Conservation and Biodiversity
A total of 93 chickpea accessions were collected from PGRC, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur. The experiment was conducted at Regional Plant Genetic Resource Centre, RARS, Ishurdi, Pabna during 2017 and 2018 consisting of 93 accessions, including three check varieties viz. BARI Chola-5, BARI Chola-6, and BARI Chola-9 following Augmented Design with four replications per check variety. The trial was sown on 06 December 2017 and unit plot size was three rows 4 m long. Row to row distance was 50 cm, with continuous seeding and plot to plot distance 75 cm. For better crop establishment, Pulses Research Centre (PRC), Bangladesh Agricultural Institute (BARI) recommended fertilizers (Urea 30 kg ha-1, TSP 100 kg ha-1, MOP 30 kg ha-1, Zypsum 52.50 kg ha-1 and Boric acid 7.50 kg ha-1) were applied as a basal dose during the final land preparation (Alam et al., 2014). Post sowing irrigation was applied to ensure germination. All intercultural operations such as weeding, thinning and applying pesticides were performed when necessary. Data were recorded only on morphological traits following Descriptors for Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), IBPGR/ICRISAT/ ICARDA (1993). The chickpea accessions used in the present study are listed and data waere analyzed using R.3.3.3 statistical software program (R Core Team, 2017). Passport Descriptors Accession number: According to the Descriptors of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), IBPGR/ICRISAT/ICARDA (1993), the accession number is used as a unique identifier for the accession of any crop, and is also assigned by curators/gene bank scientist when the accession is entered into the core collection. Descriptors list chickpea germplasm Qualitative characteristics based on the scale The present study was conducted based on thirteen morphological qualitative characters such as plant pigmentation, plant hairiness, plant growth habit, leaflets per leaf, leaf size, flower colour, no. of flowers and pods per peduncle, pod length, pod dehiscence, seed shape, seed texture, seed colour, absence/presence of minute black dots on seed, and testa type. Characterization was done according Descriptors for Chickpea, IBPGR/ICRISA/ ICARDA (1993) on whole plot basis. The germplasm was characterized based on twelve morphological quantitative characters such as days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant canopy height (cm), canopy width (cm), branches per plant, pods per plant, 100 seeds weight (g), seed yield per plant(g), straw yield per plant, harvest Index, and grain yield (kg ha-1). All quantitative data were recorded as mean data of randomly selected five plants except for yield (kg ha-1). Whole plot yield was recorded and then converted in to the
kg ha-1. Stage of recorded quantitative data and measuring scale/ method are presented in Table 3.
Agric. conspec. sci. Vol. 85 (2020) No. 1 (19-35).
Qualitative characteristics were studied for identifiction of the germplasm of chickpea. Significant variations were observed in qualitative characteristics. Among the thirteen studied qualitative characteristics plant pigmentation, growth habit, flower color, seed color, seed shape, and seed texture showed the maximum variability. However, the quantitative characters, such as number of pods per plant, grain yield per plant (g), 100-seed weight (g), harvest index, and plant canopy height (cm) showed the maximum variability among 12 yield and yield contributing
characteristics of 93 chickpea accessions including three varieties. Cluster analysis was done for identifying the genotypes with desired traits that would be used by chickpea breeders for future genetic improvement of chickpea. Cluster analysis classified the chickpea genotypes into eight different clusters that would be used for hybridization among the clusters for increasing heterosis in derived popuulation. Correlation study was carried out for estimation of the relationships among the studied morphological traits in existing genotypes of chickpea. Significant and positive correlation was observed among the straw yield, pods per plant, days to 50% flowering, branches per plant, and seeds per pod with grain yield, whereas negative significant correlation with grain yield was recorded for of days to maturity, plant height, canopy width, and hundred seed weight. The chickpea accessions BD- 6051, BD-6058, BD-6557, BD-6214, BD-6221, BD-6235, BD-6460, BD-6461, BD-6470, BD-6471, BD-6472, BD-6473, BD-6478, BD- 6480, BD-6481, 6483, BD-6484, BD-6488, BD-6491, BD-6500, BD-6505, and BD-6513 were found promising with better yield potential and harvest index compared to three check varieties and other chickpea accessions. These accessions could be used in future breeding program for improvement of chickpea varieties. Exploration of desired genetic traits of a germplasm and their incorporation in existing varieties might solve major challenges of feeding 200 million people of Bangladesh. The genetic potential of germplasm to grow in extreme habitats and harsh environment are considered to be useful to address the challenge for the development of climate smart crop.
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