Phenotypic Variation in Some Soybean Germplasm at Kashere, Nigeria

Abstract

Phenotypic variation among 15 accessions of Glycine max was assessed in this study. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Thirteen quantitative morphological traits were measured using standard methods. Estimates of phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation, broad-sense heritability, genetic advance, correlations, and cluster analysis were performed on the quantitatively measured morphological traits. Moderate GCVs and PCVs were experienced in traits like plant height, peduncle length, stem girth and the number of leaves per plant, showing the presence of moderate variability among the studied accessions for selection. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed that there is a relationship among the studied Glycine max accessions. Two-main clusters of TGm 275, and 14 other accessions were identified. Four accessions from Kashere clustered together. The closeness observed between KSH005 and TGm607, TGm767 and TGm1005 which were obtained from IITA showed that KSH005 could have been introduced as an improved variety to Kashere. The results from this research have shown that enough variability and genetic heritability exist in the studied traits among the tested Glycine max accessions.