Early maturing mutants of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) induced by chemical mutagens

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the extent of induced genetic variability for two quantitative traits, viz. days to flowering and maturity by three chemical mutagens namely methylmethane sulphonate (MMS), hydrazine hydrate (HZ) and sodium azide (SA) in M4 generation of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). The mean days to flowering and maturity were significantly reduced in all the treatments with the exception of 0.01% of SA. MMS treatments were found to be more effective in reducing the flowering and maturity period than HZ and SA. The genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), heritability (h2) and genetic advance increased manifold in the treated population indicating that these traits are controlled by additive genetic variance. Magnitude of GCV, h2 and GA were recorded to be higher with 0.2% of MMS treatment followed by 0.03% of HZ and SA. Enhancement in range of genetic variability for days to flowering and maturity in M4 generation is indicative of wider scope of selection.