Study of Genetic Variability in Recently Evolved Genotypes of Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merill]

Genetic variability analysis of 12 morphological traits including seed yield per plant were studied in during Kharif 2014 with fifty recently evolved genotypes of soybean sown with 3 replications in RBD at Breeding Farm, JNKVV, Jabalpur, M.P. Variability parameters like mean, range of variation, genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation, heritability in broad sense, genetic advance and genetic advance as percentage of mean were estimated for twelve traits. Analysis of variance revealed that mean squares due to genotype were found significant for all the traits under study except number of branches per plant and number of nodes per plant. The values of phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were higher than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the traits. The highest PCV and GCV was revealed for number of pods per plant, followed by biological yield per plant, number of seeds per plant, and number of pod clusters per plant indicated that larger share for variation for economic traits is genetically significant and selection resulting from phenotypic state would be supportive for the improvement of these traits. High estimates of heritability coupled with high genetic advance expressed as percentage of mean were observed for seed yield per plant, number of seeds per plant, biological yield per plant, and number of pods per plant which could be attributed to the predominance of additive gene action.