Genetic Variability in Quantitative Traits of Field Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Genotypes at Bekoji District, Ethiopia

For resource-poor Ethiopian farmers, field pea (Pisum sativum L.) is the main source of protein. To increase the productivity of the crop and support farmers, the development of yield and disease-resistant varieties is an important activity. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine genetic variability and associated agronomic traits among field pea genotypes. A total of 49 field pea genotypes were evaluated at Bekoji in 2020 using a simple lattice design. Analyses of variance were performed on the morpho-agronomic data collected. Most traits were significantly different among genotypes, except pod per plant, pod length, and seed per pod. Variations in genotypes for grain yield ranged from 412 to 4498 kg ha-1.  EH 010011-3, EH 05048-5, and EK 08017-3 were the genotypes with the most yield advantage over Bursa (3714.0 kg ha -1), with yield advantages of 21.11, 1.13, and 1.19%, respectively, over the highest yielding check variety. Genotype EH 010011-3 showed the highest mean grain yield of 4498 kg/ha. Phenotypic coefficients of variation ranged from 2.33% for days to maturity to 29.40% for thousand seed weights, whereas genotypic coefficients of variation ranged from 2.20% to 24.31% for days to maturity. In general, the estimated broad sense heritability ranged from 63.85% for harvest index to 89.21% for days to maturity. The genetic advance as a percentage of mean ranged from 4.28% for days to maturity to 42.16% for grain yield. The study showed that field pea genotypes exhibit reasonable genetic variation, which could be used to develop breeding programs.