Morphological characterization of early duration pigeonpea genotypes

Abstract

The DUS test is an important tool for cataloguing the genotypes and utilization of variants in the crop improvement programme. In the present investigation, a total of 55 early duration pigeonpea genotypes were categorized by descriptors and cluster analysis for 21 agro morphological traits. Wide variations were observed in the characters viz., flower colour, a pattern of streaks, pod colour, seed colour, seed shape and size and no much variation was observed for the remaining traits. The traits viz., earliness and prominent type of pod constriction were identified in all the genotypes. The genotypes were partitioned into six clusters. Cluster I encompass 32 genotypes; cluster II consists of seven genotypes; four genotypes each were placed in clusters III and V; clusters IV and VI comprised of five and three genotypes, respectively. In the present study, the DUS descriptors and the variation observed in the early duration pigeonpea genotypes will form the basis for designing the pigeonpea improvement programme.