Morphological, Agronomic, and Yield Characterization of Cluster Bean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) Germplasm Accessions

Abstract

Cluster bean is an important legume crop of the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. In the present study, 140 germplasm lines of cluster bean were evaluated for agronomic and yield traits. Wide variation was observed among agronomic and yield-related traits among the accessions, making selection possible for different characters. High heritability (> 85%) coupled with high genetic advance (> 30%) was observed for yield per plant (TY), pods per cluster (PDSCL), and clusters on main branch (CLMN). Pod length (PDLT) and total pods per plant (TDP) explained 30% and 72% of variability in seed number per pod (SDN) and TY, respectively. Principal component analysis revealed significant variation among the characters with the first four principal components explaining about 70.8% of the total variation. Projecting the germplasm accession onto the first two principal components revealed two groups: (i) accessions showing high PDSCL, TPD, and TY and (ii) accessions having high SDN. Among the 140 germplasm lines evaluated, IC-421815 (TY - 31.5 g plant-1; TPD - 139.8; and PDSCL - 6.6) and IC-370563 (31.2 g plant-1, 134.0 and 7.4) were the best performing lines compared to the checks. The information presented in this manuscript would be used for cluster bean breeding.