Genetic Evaluation of Mid-Season Pea Genotypes of Himachal Pradesh, India

The prime and foremost objective of the study was to estimate the magnitude of genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance as per cent of the mean during the Rabi season of 2019-20 at the Research Farm of Dr YSP UHF, Nauni, (H.P.) among 30 genotypes and one check variety i.e. Pb-89, for quantitative traits. i.e. days to 50 per cent flowering, number of seeds per pod, Shelling (%), seed yield per plant (g) and 100 seed weight. As per the ANOVA result all the traits of genotypes vary significantly which shows that there is a large range of genetic variability. Based on mean performances, UHF PEA 42 and UHF PEA 63 were found superior to the recommended variety i.e. Pb-89. The value of PCV was found higher than the GCV. High values of GCV and PCV were recorded for seed yield. High heritability and high genetic advance were found for seed yield per plant indicating that these characteristics are genetically controlled by additive gene action and can be used for pea improvement through selection. The genotypes which showed superior results for the objectives under study were UHF PEA 42, UHF PEA 63 and Pb-89 and can be utilized for further breeding programmes of peas.