Estimation of genetic variability and character association for development of selection criteria in pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh]

The present study was conducted with an aim to estimate genetic variability parameters and to develop suitable selection criteria in pigeonpea. The experiment consisted of eleven elite pigeonpea genotypes sown in Randomized block design with three replications during kharif 2017 and 2018 crop season at G.B.P.U.A. & T., Pantnagar and the observations were recorded on nine different yield and yield attributing traits. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated significant mean sum of squares (MSS) for all the characters under study indicating preponderance of sufficient genetic variability. In general, the PCV was found higher than the corresponding GCV estimates. The characters, number of secondary branches per plant and number of pods per plant exhibited high direct effects on seed yield along with significant and positive correlation with seed yield. It can be concluded that these two traits (number of secondary branches per plant and number of pods per plant) can be used as selection criteria in pigeonpea for bringing improvement in seed yield.