Estimation of Genetic Variability and Trait Association in Chickpea : GENETIC VARIABILITY AND CORRELATION IN CHICKPEA (Cicer arietinum L.) GENOTYPES

Chickpea is the principal rabi pulse crop and important source of calories which is predominantly grown in the vast rainfed areas of Pakistan. Pakistan ranks second to India in terms of acreage Pulses, dry edible seeds of leguminous plants, constitute an important source of balanced human diet throughout the world. Among the pulses, chickpea is the third leading grain legume in the world and first in the South Asia. Ninety two percent of the area and eighty nine percent of the production of grain are concentrated in semi-arid tropical countries of the world The present study pertaining to the estimation of genetic parameters and trait association in eighty chickpea genotypes was conducted in the glasshouse of the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Correlation studies for different seedling parameters were found to be associated with each other positively and significantly. On the basis of these results, it may be concluded that seedling length, root length, seedling biomass, leaf length, leaf width and leaf area significantly related with the seedling health. We can select genotypes at seedling level for improvement.