Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding, 6(3): 738-748 (Sep 2015) ISSN 0975-928X http://ejplantbreeding.com 738 Research Article Genetic studies on chickpea genotypes grown in late sown under rice fallow conditions of Madhya Pradesh Anita Babbar, Suneeta Pandey and Rachana Singh Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, JNKVV, Jabalpur E-mail: anitababbarjnkvv@gmail.com (Received:04 Feb 2015 ; Accepted:24 Mar 2015) Abstract Genetic variability, heritability, interrelationships and diversity analysis for seed yield and its components were estimated in 31 genotypes of chickpea grown under rice fallow conditions. Highly significant differences existed among the genotypes tested for all the traits. Traits such as seed yield per plant, biological yield, number of effective pods, total number of pods, 100-seed weight, harvest index and number of secondary branches showed high phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance as percentage of mean. Significant and positive correlations were found between seed yield and biological yield, total number of pods per plant, harvest index, number of effective pods, 100-seed weight, number of secondary branches, number of primary branches and number of seeds per plant, while negative with phenological traits. Protein content showed significant negative correlation with 100-seed weight. Ideal plant type in late sown under rice fallows would be early in phenological traits having high biomass, harvest index and more number of effective pods. D 2 analysis grouped 31 promising lines into thirteen clusters. Genotypes JSC55, AKG 70, BGD 1064, BG 256, RVSSG 8, H 07-120, Phule G 00- 108, BG 3005, JG 92-3974, CSJ 313 and BGD-1056 were identified as promising donor lines which may be utilized for chickpea improvement. Key words Chickpea, Phenological, heritability, variability, rice-fallow Introduction Chickpea is the third leading grain legume in the world and first in the South Asia. The introduction of chickpea in a cereal-based rotation, which is used particularly in developing countries, can break the disease and pest cycle, and increase the productivity of the entire rotation. Rice fields are mostly vacated late up to the end of November making the available varieties of chickpea unfit for sowing under late conditions (rice-fallow). Early maturing lines of chickpea, however, can be grown under rice fallow when availability of water is not enough for wheat cultivation. Inclusion of chickpea in rice-wheat system not only brings qualitative change in the production base for long term sustainability, but also protects the environment from risks associated with high input agriculture. The late sown conditions are characterized by low temperature at seedling and high temperature at the time of grain development. Low temperature at initial stage of crop growth results in poor and slow vegetative growth, whereas high temperature at the end of season leads to forced maturity. The purpose of this study was to estimate the genetic variability and to identify suitable plant type for selection for improving yield in late-sown chickpea cultivar under rice fallow situations. Materials and Methods Thirty one genotypes of chickpea were sown in randomized block design replicated thrice at the Seed Breeding Farm, College of Agriculture, Jabalpur in rice fallow under late sown conditions during first fortnight of December 2010. Each entry was accommodated in four row of 4.0 m length with a spacing of 30 cm between rows and 8-10 cm between plants. The recommended agronomical and plant protection practices were adopted for good crop growth. Observations were recorded for fourteen quantitative traits viz., days to flower initiation, days to 50% flowering, days to pod initiation, days to maturity, plant height (cm), number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, total number of pods, number of effective pods, number of seeds per pod, 100-seed weight (g), biological yield (g), harvest index (%), seed yield per plant (g) and two biochemical traits viz., carbohydrate (% ) and protein (%).The standard statistical procedure were used for estimation of genetic parameters of variability, correlation, path and D 2 analysis. Results and Discussion In the present study, evaluation of genotypes of chickpea grown under late sown in rice fallow revealed presence of highly significant differences among them for all the traits, suggesting ample scope of exploiting such variability through selection. The estimates of various genetic parameters are presented in Table 1. Seed yield per plant had highest phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation, followed by biological yield, number of effective pods, total number of pods, 100- seed weight, harvest index and number of secondary branches, while days to flower