Genetic variability for yield and yield related traits in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars evaluated at Taba and Gurumo-Koysha, Wolaita, Ethiopia

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a potential crop in the Wolaita Zone in Southern Ethiopia for both domestic use and export. However, the unavailability of suitable chickpea cultivars that fit the Wolaita area is a major constraint for production. Therefore, field experiments were conducted to evaluate the yield and yield-related traits of 12 chickpea cultivars (Dz-02-54, Dz- 02-53, Hora, Kasech, Ejeri, Acose-dubie, Teji, Shasho, Dhera, Minjar, Dalota and Habru). The results revealed that days to emergence, days to 50% flowering, days to 90% maturity, and harvest index were found to have significant differences (p<0.05) among the cultivars during the analysis of variance for individual locations and combined across locations. Cultivar × location interaction effect was significant for 23.08% of the evaluated traits. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) values ranged from 4.30 (number of seeds per plant) to 41.68 (grain yield) whereas the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) values ranged from 2.53 (thousand seed weight) to 22.68 (number of seed per plant). The cultivar Hora demonstrated the highest performance, achieving a maximum grain yield of 11.68 q/ha. It was closely followed by Ejeri (11.34 q/ha) and Kasech (11.08 q/ha). These cultivars show potential for cultivation in Taba and Gurumo-Koysha, Wolaita, Ethiopia and may serve as valuable resources for future chickpea enhancement efforts.