Investigation of phonological development and yield of different faba bean genotypes in Gorgan

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is one of the most important legumes for its biological N2 fixation, seed high protein content and its ability to grow over a wide range of climatic and soil conditions. Various faba bean genotypes are available which are attributed with high potential regarding grain yield-influencing traits.Detection of diversity is important for characterization of crop plant collections in order to detect the presence of valuable trait variation for use in breeding programs. dentification and introduction of high yielding genotypes may lead to increase in cultivation area and yield in unit area. An investigation was carried out to evaluate the phonological, select the superior faba bean genotype(s) and to assess the genetic diversity present in the agronomic traits.

This experiment was conducted at agricultural and natural resources research station of Gorgan in 2016-2017 cropping season using twenty-six genotypes of faba bean. The treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Traits such as emergence rate, emergence uniformity, days from planting to flowering, days from planting to pod setting, days from planting to grain filing, days from planting to physiological maturity, number of branches per plant, plant height, Height of the lower pod, pod length, pods per plant, seeds per pod, 100-seed weight and grain yield were evaluated. To group the populations cluster analysis was done on the Euclidean distance matrix with the Ward’s method. The data were subjected to analyses of variance using the SAS and SPSS programs.

There was a significant difference at p

The evaluated faba bean genotypes in this study showed significant phenotypic variability in terms of plant morphology, phenology and yield attributes. This variability showed suitable genotypes for the various agro- ecological zones of the country. Genotypes with appropriate number of seeds per pod, 100-seed weight and suitable pod length were able to produce more seed yield than other genotypes. G-faba-8, G-faba-7, G-faba-1-2 and G-faba-218 genotypes produced the highest grain yield per hectare. These genotypes had higher yield than Barakat cultivar, which is common in Gorgan. If these results are repeated in future experiments and stability of yield in the region, these genotypes can be used to achieve increased production.