Adaptability performances of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes under different environments for stability of quantitative traits

Abstract

The evaluation and computation of yield stability of a genotype over environments is a critical component of a certain breeding program. The present study was intended to screen 11 advance chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes and one check for genotype × environment interaction (G × E) at six locations with varying micro and macro climatic conditions for yield correlated phenotypic characters. A number of 11 advanced genotypes of chickpea and one check variety were assessed for their adaptability at six different locations of Bangladesh. The randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was chosen to experiment. The means were used to compute Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) analysis of variance, followed by regression analysis to measure × E. The regression analysis showed significant genotype × environment interaction for all the phenotypic characters. The mean values of days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, number of pods per plant and seed yield were highly significant for linear, as well as non-linear components of G × E. Chickpea yield was significantly (p< 0.01) affected by genotypes, the environments and G × E interaction, indicating that the varieties and the test environments were diverse. G × E was further partitioned by principal component axes. The first two principal components cumulatively explained 86.59% of the total variation, of which 53.34% and 33.25% were contributed by IPCA1 and IPCA2, respectively. The AMMI stability value discriminated genotypes G2 (BCX 09010- 9), G3 (BCX 09010-2) and G8 (BCX 01008-4) the stable genotypes. The investigated genotypes exhibited varying adaptability in different environments. Genotypes G3 (BCX 09010-9) and G9 (BCX 01008-3) were stable genotypes with high yield over a wide range of environments are promising candidate chickpea varieties.