Evaluation of white bean lines based on phenological and agronomic traits using multivariate statistical methods

For evaluation and grouping of 45 genotypes of white bean using different phenological and agronomic traits as; emergence (%)، emergence index، days to 50% flowering، days to 50% podding، days to 90% maturity، number of pods. plant-1، number of seeds. pod-1، 100 seed weight، pod length، biomass per plant and grain yield per plant، a field experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design with three replications in 2009. Genotypes were divided into three groups by cluster analysis based on phenological and agronomic traits. The groups were: early maturing with high yield and yield components، late maturing with high yield and yield components، and early maturing with low yield and yield components. In principal component analysis، the first three principal components explained 82. 29% of the total variance. Grouping genotypes using biplots showed a high agreement with the results of cluster analysis. In general، early maturing white bean genotypes in the first cluster that had highest grain yield were identified as superior lines for further evaluation as well as also to be used in white bean breeding programs.