| Abstrakt: |
Identification of cowpea genotypes suited to unconventional rabi season, forms the prerequisite to initiate breeding programs for such conditions. To achieve this, a minicore set of 172 accessions (163 germplasm and nine checks) were evaluated in alpha design in rabi 2022. The genotypes were evaluated for nine quantitative yield and its attributing traits viz., days to fifty per cent flowering (DFF), pod length (cm) (PL), pod width (cm) (PW), seeds per pod (SP), pods cluster-1 (PC), average pod weight (g) (APWT), pods plant-1 (PP), hundred seed weight (g) (HSW) and grain yield plant-1 (g) (GYP). Among the traits, largest variation was observed for PP, followed by GYP and the least for PW. Trait specific accessions were identified based on adjusted means of genotypes. Accessions promising for multiple traits were also identified. The accessions 144 (IC202779) and 362 (EC107163) were identified to be promising for three traits each viz., PW, HSW, APWT and SP, PP, GYP, respectively. Indirect selection was exercised by deploying six selection indices considering all traits except GYP, which were then compared against direct selection (DS) for GYP, through relative selection efficiency (RSE). Consequently, Base Linear Phenotypic Selection Index (BLPSI) proved to be better in selecting promising genotypes for GYP, with higher RSE of 64.89 per cent against DS. However, DS had highest coincidence index with rank sum method, suggesting higher number of common genotypes between them.The genotypes 362 (EC107163) and 390 (EC738131) were selected by five and four out of six indices respectively, highlighting their superiority over others. These selected genotypes, after further evaluations during rabi, would serve as potential cultivar options and as parents for developing elite genotypes upon hybridisation and selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
