~ 3124 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2020; 8(1): 3124-3126 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 www.chemijournal.com IJCS 2020; 8(1): 3124-3126 © 2020 IJCS Received: 20-11-2019 Accepted: 23-12-2019 Sunil Kumar Nag Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India Chandrakanti Painkra Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India Ajay Tiwari Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India Corresponding Author: Sunil Kumar Nag Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merrill] Sunil Kumar Nag, Chandrakanti Painkra and Ajay Tiwari DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/chemi.2020.v8.i1au.12035 Abstract An experiment was conducted to estimate the genetic parameters for different traits in soybean. The crop was sown during June, 2015 at Research cum Instructional Farm Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G.). The experiment was laid out in RCBD with two replications. The results of genetic variability analysis revealed the existence of moderate genotypic coefficient of variance (GCV) for character number of primary branches per plant revealing opportunity of isolating desirable genotypes through intensive selection. The phenotypic coefficient of variance was noted to be moderate for characters seed yield per plant followed by number of pods per plant, number of primary branches per plant. The highest heritability estimate was observed for number of primary branches per plant. High heritability coupled with moderate genetic advance as percentage mean was recorded for number of primary branches per plant. Days to 50% flowering and plant height showed moderate heritability with low genetic advance as percentage of mean. Moderate heritability with moderate genetic advance as percentage of mean were recorded for plant height followed by 100 seed weight, pod bearing length, number of seeds per pod and protein content. Keywords: Genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance and soybean Introduction Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] is a wonderful crop gifted by the nature to mankind which is one of the richest sources of oil as well as protein. It belongs to the family Leguminosae and is a self-pollinated crop having chromosome number of 2n=40. Genetic variability is the basic requirement for crop improvement as this provides wider scope for selection. Thus, effectiveness of selection is dependent upon the nature, extent and magnitude of genetic variability present in material and extent to which it is heritable. Soybean is a dominant oil seed crop in the world trade accounting about 25% world’s total oil and fats production. India stands at fifth place in area and production in soybean at global level. Currently, soybean is at first place among the nine oil seed crops in India with a mean national productivity 1.2 t/h. Soybean has become the major source of edible vegetable oil and high quality proteins for food and feed supplement all over the world. A successful breeding programme for yield improvement through phenotypic selection is mainly dependent on the nature and magnitude of variation in the available material and part played by the environment in the expression of the plant characters i.e. phenotype. This required the partitioning of the overall variability into its heritable and non-heritable components with the help of suitable genetic parameters such as heritability and genetic advance. Materials and Methods The experimental material used in the present study was obtained from All India Coordinated Research Project on Soybean, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, IGKV, Raipur (C.G.) which consisted of 8 diverse genotypes viz., RSC 10-04, RSC 10-17, RSC 10-30, RSC 10-46, JS 97-52, JS 93-05, JS 335 and NRC 37. The experiment was comprised of 4 lines and 4 testers of soybean and cross were attempted using L x T design (Kempthorne, 1957) [5] . Two varieties were used as a check. The F 1 were obtained by crossing each of the 4 lines with 4 testers during the Kharif season 2014-15 and evaluated in RCBD with 2 replication during Kharif season 2015-16.