Twenty-five dolichos bean accessions (Lablab purpureus var. typicus) were evaluated for variability, heritability and genetic divergence under Kerala conditions. GCV and PCV were highest for number of pods per plant (66.65, 67.66) followed by green pod yield per plant (49.24, 49.97). High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean was noted for the characters pod girth (98.48, 55.12), pod length (97.47, 51.80), green pod yield per plant (97.09, 99.94), number of pods per plant (97.06, 135.27), number of seeds per pod (92.46, 45.63), pod weight (91.27, 61.27), days to first flowering (89.41, 23.49), days to first fruit set (86.35, 20.38), number of pods per cluster (65.72, 23.53), total phenols (96.05, 67.47), calcium (91.51, 39.74) and crude fibre (68.58, 27.20). Based on Mahalanobis D2 analysis the accessions were grouped into six clusters. The highest inter cluster distance was exhibited between the clusters IV and V (3929.71) which indicated that maximum variability existed between the accessions present in these clusters and hence they can be used as parents in a hybridization programme.
Short communication | Published online : 12-Jan-2021