International Journal of Plant Breeding and Crop Science

Vol. 7(1), pp. 710-714, June, 2020. © www.premierpublishers.org, ISSN: 2167-0449

Research Article

Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance of

Kabuli Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) for Agronomic
Traits at Central Ethiopia
Fasil Hailu
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, P.O.Box: 32, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia
E-mail: fasilhl12@gmail.com

The present study was carried out to assess the extent of genetic variability among yield and yield
related traits in selected kabuli chickpea genotypes. Forty-nine kabuli chickpea genotypes were
studied for thirteen traits at Debre Zeit and Akaki using 7x7 simple lattice design in 2018 cropping
season. Combined analysis of variance revealed that there was a significant difference among
genotypes for all traits studied, indicating the presence of considerable amount of variability
among genotypes. High Phenotypic coefficients of variation and moderate genotypic coefficients
of variation value were shown for number of pods per plant and number of seeds per plant,
respectively, indicating the possibility of genetic improvement in selection of these traits. High
broad sense heritability coupled with high genetic advance were obtained for hundred-seed
weight (91.88 and 23.81), number of pods per plant (68.07 and 28.13), number of secondary
branches (80.92 and 27.80), number of seeds per plant (67.86 and 31.840), grain yield (62.33 and
24.42) and harvest index (75.70 and 28.17), respectively. This indicates that these characters could
be improved easily through selection.

Key words: Chickpea, Genetic advance, Genotypic coefficients of variation, Heritability, Phenotypic coefficient of variation

INTRODUCTION
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) belongs to the family
leguminosae. It is one of the most important cool season
food grain legumes in the world after common bean
(Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and field pea (Pisum sativum L.)
(Muehlbauer and Sarker, 2017). It is annual, self-pollinated
and diploid species with 2n=2x=16 chromosomes.
Chickpea is one of the first pulse crops domesticated in old
world and most probably originated in an area of South-
eastern Turkey adjoining Syria (Van der Maesen, 1987).
The crop later spread to other parts of the world.
Chickpea is a source of carbohydrate, protein, lipid, fiber,
minerals, vitamins and health-beneficial phytochemicals
(Wood and Grusak, 2007; Ayasan et al., 2018). It also
plays a significant role in maintaining soil fertility, and can
be grown as a second crop using residual moisture, used
as animal feed, as a fuel and as a source of cash (Legesse
et al., 2005). Recently since two decades the importance
of kabuli chickpea is taking paramount importance.
Asnake (2014) reported that kabuli has accounted for at
least one-third of total chickpea production of the country
with increasing momentum. The market values, taste,
grain size, resistance to Ascochyta blight and productivity
all make this type to gain importance.
Chickpea production was about 12 million tons across the
world according to FAO, 2016. From these, Asia account
for 80.3% of the global chickpea production and Africa
account for 5.9%. The major producing countries in the
world include India, Australia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Turkey,
Ethiopia, Russian Federation, Iran, Mexico and USA. From
these India is the largest producing country contributing to
64.6% of word production. In Africa, area under chickpea
cultivation is 606.363 hectares with a production of
712,317 tons. Ethiopia is the sixth largest producing
country contributing to 3.67% of the world total production
and the first in Africa occupying about 62.3% of the total
production (FAO, 2016). In Ethiopia chickpea is the
second in terms of production (499,425.5 tons) next to faba
bean (921,761.53 tons) and the third in terms of
productivity (2.05 ton ha-1), following soya bean (2.27 ton
ha-1 ) and faba bean (2.10 ton ha-1) (CSA, 2017).

Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance of Kabuli Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) for Agronomic Traits at Central Ethiopia
Fasil H 711
Although the country is a major chickpea producer in
Africa, the national average productivity of chickpea is low.
This is primarily due to cultivation of few improved varieties
for varied eco-edaphic rain fed systems, poor adaptation,
poor crop management, biotic (Ascochyta blight, Fusarium
wilt, weed, cutworm and pod borer) and abiotic (drought,
soil salinity and water logging) factors.
However, further development of desirable genotypes with
high yield potential is essential for the improvement of
production and productivity of the crop. These depend
upon the extent of genetic variability in the base
population. Genetic variability can be estimated from
genetic parameters such as phenotypic and genotypic
coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance.
Component of genetic parameters such as genotypic
coefficient of variation and phenotypic coefficient of
variation have an immense importance in detecting the
amount of genetic variation that exist in the genotypes.
Selection is effective when there is a significant amount of
genetic variability among the individuals in a population.
Determining the genetic components of phenotypic
variation jointly with heritability estimation help
researchers to improve crops for desirable traits because
genotypic and phenotypic components of variation are
dominant factors for yield improvement. Therefore, the
objective of present study was to estimate genetic
parameters of kabuli chickpea genotypes for yield and its
components in central Ethiopia.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experiment was conducted under field condition at
Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center and Akaki
Research Station during the 2018 main cropping season.
A total of forty-nine advanced breeding kabuli chickpea
genotypes were taken from the Highland Pulse Research
Program, Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center
(DZARC). These experimental materials are listed in Table
1. The field experiment was carried out using 7 x 7 simple
lattice designs with two replications. The plot size was 4.8
m2 i.e., 4m length and 1.2m width with spacing of 0.3 m
and 0.1 m between rows and plants, respectively as per
research recommendations. Each plot had four rows and
the spacing between incomplete blocks was 1m and 0.6m
distance was kept between plots to separate two
genotypes. Planting was done on randomly allocated plots
of each replication by hand drilling. Thinning after
emergency was done to maintain intra-row spacing of
0.1m. No fertilizer was applied while recommended
weeding practices were done throughout the growing
season. The observations were recorded on thirteen
quantitative characters of plot basis and plant basis (from
two central rows) viz., days to 50% flowering, grain filling
period, days to maturity, biological yield, hundred-seed
weight, grain yield, harvest index, plant height, number of
primary branches, number of secondary branches,
number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and
number of seeds per plant
Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance of Kabuli Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) for Agronomic Traits at Central Ethiopia
The data collected were subjected to statistical analysis.
Analysis of variance were carried out for different
characters in order to partition variability due to different
sources. The total variability for each trait was quantified
using pooled analyses of variance over locations.
Phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variations were
expressed as percentage of the corresponding phenotypic
and genotypic standard deviations as described by
Johnson et al. (1955). Broad-sense heritability (H2) for all
characters were quantified using the formula given by
Falconer (1989). Expected genetic advance for each
character at 5% selection intensity was computed using
the methodology described by Johnson et al. (1955).
Genetic advance as percent of mean (GAM) was
calculated to compare the extent of predicted genetic
advance of different traits under selection using the
formula suggested by Johnson et al. (1955)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Analysis of Variance
Mean squares of the thirteen traits combined with locations
are presented in Table 2. The pooled analysis of variance
showed genotype effects was statistically significant for all
traits. These highly significant differences indicate the
existence of variability among genotypes for all traits
studied.
Phenotypic and Genotypic Coefficients of Variation
Estimate of phenotypic variances (σ2p), genotypic
variances (σ2g), phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV)
and the genotypic coefficients of variation (GCV) are
presented in Table 3. In this study the value of phenotypic
variance was relatively higher than the genotypic variance
for all the traits studied. The relative narrow gap between
the phenotypic and genotypic variance values indicate the
smaller contribution of the environmental effects to the
phenotypic variance in the traits. Higher phenotypic and
genotypic variances were recorded for biological yield,
grain yield, harvest index, number of pods per plant,
number of seeds per plant and days to flowering. Lower
phenotypic (σ2p) and genotypic variances (σ2g) were
observed for hundred-seed weight and day to maturity,
number of seeds per pod, number of primary branches and
number of secondary branches.
High PCV and moderate GCV value were shown for
number of pods per plant and number of seeds per plant.
Higher phenotypic and genotypic coefficients variability
indicates the existence of wide genetic variation among
the genotypes taken for this study and showed the
possibility of genetic improvement through selection for
these traits. Similar to the current report, high percentage
of genotypic and moderate phenotypic coefficient of
variation for number of pods per plant was also reported
by previous investigators, Zali et al. (2011).
 Int. J. Plant Breed. Crop Sci. 712

Table 1. List of chickpea genotypes used for the study

No Genotype Status No Genotype Status
1 DZ-2012-CK-0260 Advanced line 26 DZ-2012-CK-0259 Advanced line
2 DZ-2012-CK-0261 Advanced line 27 DZ-2012-CK-0264 Advanced line
3 DZ-2012-CK-0265 Advanced line 28 DZ-2012-CK-0263 Advanced line
4 DZ-2012-CK-0268 Advanced line 29 DZ-2012-CK-0271 Advanced line
5 DZ-2012-CK-0273 Advanced line 30 DZ-2012-CK-0287 Advanced line
6 DZ-2012-CK-0275 Advanced line 31 DZ-2012-CK-0282 Advanced line
7 DZ-2012-CK-0277 Advanced line 32 DZ-2012-CK-0241 Advanced line
8 DZ-2012-CK-0279 Advanced line 33 DZ-2012-CK-0266 Advanced line
9 DZ-2012-CK-0281 Advanced line 34 DZ-2012-CK-0280 Advanced line
10 DZ-2012-CK-0283 Advanced line 35 DZ-2012-CK-0243 Advanced line
11 DZ-2012-CK-0284 Advanced line 36 DZ-2012-CK-0272 Advanced line
12 DZ-2012-CK-0285 Advanced line 37 DZ-2012-CK-0274 Advanced line
13 DZ-2012-CK-0286 Advanced line 38 DZ-2012-CK-0278 Advanced line
14 DZ-2012-CK-0288 Advanced line 39 DZ-2012-CK-0300 Advanced line
15 DZ-2012-CK-0242 Advanced line 40 DZ-2012-CK-0290 Advanced line
16 DZ-2012-CK-0244 Advanced line 41 DZ-2012-CK-0309 Advanced line
17 DZ-2012-CK-0061 Advanced line 42 DZ-2012-CK-0310 Advanced line
18 DZ-2012-CK-0248 Advanced line 43 DZ-2012-CK-0305 Advanced line
19 DZ-2012-CK-0246 Advanced line 44 DZ-2012-CK-0303 Advanced line
20 DZ-2012-CK-0065 Advanced line 45 DZ-2012-CK-0294 Advanced line
21 DZ-2012-CK-0249 Advanced line 46 DZ-2012-CK-0306 Advanced line
22 DZ-2012-CK-0064 Advanced line 47 DZ-2012-CK-0276 Advanced line
23 DZ-2012-CK-0178 Advanced line 48 Ejere Released
24 DZ-2012-CK-0220 Advanced line 49 Hora Released
25 DZ-2012-CK-0269 Advanced line

Table 2. Mean square values and coefficient of variation from analysis of variance for 13 traits.
Traits Mean squares CV
Replication Block(rep) Genotypes Location Genotypex location Error

DF 0.25 5.14 130.40** 326.58** 15.14** 4.51 3.77

DM 28.70 5.05 48.32** 4614.29** 8.55** 4.33 1.70
GFP 8.58 2.26 43.64** 1160.86** 10.48** 2.39 2.39
PLHT(cm) 12.05 3.63 46.92** 2057.27** 18.42** 4.34 4.22
NPB 0.02 0.07 0.49** 15.32** 0.20** 0.07 8.42
NSB 1.26 0.43 6.59** 150.06** 1.45** 0.58 9.20
NPP 48.20 16.46 136.23** 3854.64** 54.21** 12.91 11.05
NSPP 116.02 25.78 236.22** 6482.55** 94.41** 20.70 12.07
NSP 0.020 0.004 0.03** 0.805** 0.02** 0.004 5.77
BY(kg/ha 19281717.4 1147181.1 2834392.7** 95865546** 1909765.6** 634066.4 13.61
HSW(g) 6.69 2.41 71.90** 1259.24** 6.19** 2.32 4.39
GY(kg/ha) 1191742.5 169206.6 860734.7** 140232187.5** 430985.8** 136058.0 13.10
HI 363.49 32.53 233.51** 14776.43** 73.03ns 61.06 16.26
*, ** Significant at p ≤ 0.05, and p ≤ 0.01 probability level, respectively. DF =days to flowering, DM = days to maturity, GFP
= grain filling period, PLHT = Plant height, NPB = number of primary branches, NSB = number of secondary branches,
NPP = number of pods per plant, NSPP = number of seeds per plant, NSP = number of seeds per pod, BY = biological
yield, HSW = hundred-seed weight, GY = grain yield, HI = harvest index.

Harvest index, grain yield, biological yield, number of
secondary branches, hundred-seed weight and number of
primary branches, showed moderate PCV and GCV. Ali
and Ahsan (2012) reported similar results of moderate
PCV and GCV values for the trait grain yield, biological
yield, number of primary branches and hundred-seed
weight. Days to maturity, grain filling period, plant height
and number of seeds per pod showed low PCV and GCV
values. Traits with low coefficients of variation indicate the
presence of narrow genetic variation on these traits.
However, the improvement of those traits could be
possible through hybridization and or induced
mutagenesis followed by selection. These results agree
with those of Dev et al. (2017) who reported low PCV and
GCV for days to maturity, plant height and number of
seeds per pod.

Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance of Kabuli Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) for Agronomic Traits at Central Ethiopia
Fasil H 713

Table 3. Estimates of genetic parameters for 13 traits of chickpea genotypes.

Traits σ2g σ2p GCV PCV H2(%) GA GAM
DF 31.27 35.06 9.93 10.51 89.20 10.90 19.34
DM 11.55 13.69 2.78 3.02 84.39 6.44 5.27
GFP 9.90 12.52 4.86 5.47 79.08 5.77 8.92
PLHT(cm) 9.97 14.58 6.40 7.74 68.40 5.39 10.93
NPB 0.106 0.156 10.44 12.70 67.57 0.55 17.70
NSB 1.539 1.902 14.98 16.65 80.92 2.30 27.80
NPP 28.89 42.45 16.53 20.03 68.07 9.15 28.13
NSPP 49.84 73.44 18.73 22.74 67.86 12.00 31.84
NSP 0.0049 0.0090 6.039 8.189 54.38 0.106 9.188
BY(kg/ha) 549135.78 1026577.18 12.67 17.32 53.49 1118.11 19.11
HSW(g) 17.49 19.04 12.04 12.56 91.88 8.27 23.81
GY(kg/ha) 178317.70 286064.15 15.00 18.99 62.33 687.80 24.42
HI 56.88 75.14 15.69 18.04 75.70 13.54 28.17
σ2g = genotypic variance, σ2p = phenotypic variance, GCV = genotypic coefficients of variation, PCV = phenotypic
coefficients of variation, H2 = broad sense heritability, GA = genetic advance, GAM = genetic advance as percent of mean,
DF =days to flowering, DM = days to maturity, GFP = grain filling period, PLHT = Plant height, NPB = number of primary
branches, NSB = number of secondary branches, NPP = number of pods per plant, NSPP = number of seeds per plant,
NSP = number of seeds per pod, BY = biological yield, HSW = hundred-seed weight, GY = grain yield, HI = harvest index.
Heritability (24.42%), number of pods per plant (28.13%) and number
of secondary branches (27.80%). High estimate of these
The broad sense heritability values of the traits based on traits indicates that whenever we select the best 5%
the combined analyses of variance across the two test genotypes as parent for a given trait, genotypic value of
locations were estimated and ranged from 53.49% for the new population for the traits will be improved highly. Ali
biological yield to 91.88% for hundred-seed weight (Table and Ahsan (2012) reported similar results of high genetic
3). advance as percent of mean for hundred-seed weight,
number of seeds per plant and number of pods per plant.
Accordingly, high broad sense heritability estimates were Similarly, high genetic advance for hundred-seed weight
found for traits such as hundred-seed weight, days to and grain yield were reported by Biru et al. (2017).
flowering, days to maturity, number of secondary
Moderate genetic advance values as percent of mean
branches, grain filling period, harvest index, plant height,
were obtained for biological yield (19.11%), day to
number of primary branches, number of pods per plant,
flowering (19.34%), plant height (10.93%) and number of
number of seeds per plant and grain yield. Characters that
primary branches (17.70%). Similarly, moderate genetic
had high broad sense heritability indicate selection based
advance as percent of mean was reported by Elhashimi et
on phenotypic expression of individual genotypes for such
al. (2015) for days to flowering and plant height. In
characters might be easy due to a relatively small
contrast, low genetic advance as percent of mean was
contribution of the environment to the phenotype. Dev et
obtained for number of seeds per pod (9.18%), grain filling
al. (2017) reported similar result of high heritability for days
period (8.92%) and days to maturity (5.27%). These
to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, hundred-seed
indicate selection of genotype based on those traits as
weight, harvest index and seed yield. Likewise, moderate
parent might result in low response to new population.
heritability values were observed for biological yield and
These results are in agreement with Ali and Ahsan (2012)
number of seeds per pod. Similarly, moderate heritability
who reported low genetic advance for number of seeds per
for number of seeds per plant was reported by Malik et al.
pod and days to maturity.
(2010) and Elhashimi et al. (2015) for biological yield.
However, selecting superior individuals based on In addition to these, high heritability along with high genetic
heritability estimates alone may not be evidence for advance were very essential to improve traits of interest.
genetic improvement. Thus, heritability estimates along Accordingly, in the present study, relatively high heritability
with genetic advance would be more useful in predicting along with high genetic advance estimates were obtained
the effectiveness of selecting the best individuals. for hundred-seed weight, number of pods per plant,
number of secondary branches, number of seeds per
Genetic Advance plant, grain yield and harvest index. These traits are
governed by additive gene action and selection will be
Genetic advance as percent of mean varied from 5.28% beneficial for genetic improvement of the kabuli chickpea.
for days to maturity to 31.89% for number of seeds per Hussain et al. (2016) reported similar results with present
plant (Table 3). High genetic advance estimates as study regarding high heritability coupled with high genetic
percent of mean were recorded for harvest index advance as percent of mean for hundred seed weight,
(28.17%), hundred-seed weight (23.81%), grain yield number of pod per plant and grain yield.

Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance of Kabuli Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) for Agronomic Traits at Central Ethiopia

Biological yield showed moderate heritability and genetic
advance as percent of mean, while days to flowering,
number of primary branch and plant height had high
heritability with moderate genetic advance as percent of
mean. This suggests that these traits are primarily under
genetic control and selection for them can be achieved
through their phenotypic performance. High heritability but
low genetic advance as percent of mean were observed
for days to maturity and grain filling period. This indicated
that non-additive gene action involved in the expression of
these traits and selection for such trait may not be
rewarding. Number of seeds per pod showed moderate
heritability and low genetic advance as percent of means.
Similar result was reported by Dev et al. (2017).
CONCLUSION
Generally, from current study, we concluded that there are
variations in the performance of the genotypes as
statistically supported significant differences among
genotypes. High heritability coupled with high genetic
advance as percent of the mean were observed for
hundred-seed weight, number of secondary branches,
harvest index, number of pods per plant, grain yield and
number of seeds per plant. This indicates that these traits
are governed by additive genetic action and could be
improved through selection. However, the level of genetic
variation on many traits including grain yield may not be
sufficient to gain progress in selection. Hence, to improve
the diversity of chickpea in Ethiopia, in addition to
introducing germplasm, subsequent crossing aimed at
creating of better diversity by hybridizing chickpea
genotypes of different genetic background need to be
carried out.
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Accepted 19 June 2020
Citation: Fasil H (2020). Genetic Variability, Heritability
and Genetic Advance of Kabuli Chickpea (Cicer arietinum
L.) for Agronomic Traits at Central Ethiopia. International
Journal of Plant Breeding and Crop Science, 7(1): 710-
714.
Copyright: © 2020: Fasil H. This is an open-access article
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