GENETIC VARIABILITY, HERITABILITY AND YIELD PERFORMANCE OF CHICKPEA GENOTYPES UNDER SEMI-ARID CONDITIONS

Chickpea production is still meager in semi-arid conditions due to environmental stresses coupled with a lack of genetic variation. Twenty-five chickpea genotypes including five check cultivars were evaluated for genetic heritability, variability and yield performance, using randomized complete design in semi-arid environments. Morphological, phenological, and yield traits were recorded and analyzed using ANOVA, genetic parameters, PCA, and correlation analysis. To quantify the magnitude of genetic and environmental impacts on the expression of the traits, genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation (GCV and PCV) were estimated. The values of PCV consistently outperformed GCV, indicating pronounced environmental modulation of the performance of the trait in semi-arid settings. Significant genetic variation (p < 0.01) was recorded for all tested characteristics. Significant heritability coupled with high genetic advance was recorded for pods per plant (h² = 0.81; GA = 46.3%), seeds per pod (h² = 0.59; GA = 41.9%), and seed yield (h² = 0.77; GA = 41.6%), thus indicating the predominance of additive gene action and supporting the effectiveness of direct selection. Principal component analysis revealed that pods per plant, seeds per pod, secondary branching, and 100-seed weight contributed to genetic divergence. Similarly, correlation analysis indicated that early phenology resulted in yielding advantage in moisture stress and that seed yield correlated positively with pods per plant, biological yield, and secondary branches. The continuous excellence performance of D-3113, D1113, and D-1211 implies that they are suitable as elite breeding materials to enhance chickpea productivity in semi-arid conditions.