Abstract

Mutation breeding is a useful technique for discovering desirable traits in chickpea genomes. Therefore, the overall objective of this study was to bring out genetic variability in the genotype of chickpeas by treating the seeds with six doses (0.0, 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 and 800 rad) of gamma irradiation to generate genetic variations in morphological traits and yield components to bring out information about the magnitude of genetic parameters related to these traits. Gamma-irradiated seeds were planted in a randomized complete block design. The genotypic coefficient of variations for growth traits, except for chlorophyll a, was higher than the corresponding values of the environmental coefficient of variation. High heritability coupled with moderate genetic advance was achieved in the number of branches per plant, as well as in chlorophyll b. All yield component traits had recorded very high values of heritability ranging from 96.4% for pod number per plant to 87.21% for the weight of 50 seeds. High values of heritability coupled with high genetic advance were recorded for the number of pods, pod weight, and seed weight per plant. It can be concluded that some growth parameters, number of branches per plant, as well as all yield component traits showed small environmental effects and exhibited high additive genetic performance on the phenotypic variation of these traits which can be improved through selection programs.

Key words: Chickpea, genetic parameters, genetic advance, gamma irradiation, yield components, growth traits.