Morphological Characterization of High Grain Iron and Zinc Concentration Bio-fortified lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus subsp. culinaris) in Nepal

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus subsp. culinaris) is the wonderful, most popular & preferred food legume of Nepalese people and commonly grown in the rice and maize based cropping system. Morphological characters have been frequently used in order to know the diversity in germplasm collections. The main objectives of the study were to characterize the bio-fortified lentil accessions using morphological markers and select the DUS accession for using targeted the best utilization in hybridization program. Plant breeders can use these morphological variations to make decision regarding the choice for selecting superior genotypes for improvement or to be utilized as parents for the development of future cultivars through hybridization. Furthermore, important morphological markers like, plant type, foliage color, testa color, testa pattern and cotyledon colors can also be used for testing hybridity and keeping genetic purity at genetic level. The information obtained by the identification keys at seed and plant levels may be useful for discrimination and verification of varieties, hybridity testing and maintenance of genetic purity at genetic level during seed production and certification programme. Out of 25 lentil accessions, 18 accessions were observed as erect and compact growth habit, 22 accessions had green stem color, 21 accessions had dense leaf pubescence and dark foliage, 7 accessions had prominent tendril, 3 accessions had white blue veins flower and 4 accessions had large seeded accession.