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Nouraein M., Shekari F., Sabaghnia N., Janmohammadi M. Grouping chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes based on diverse agronomic and morphological characteristics. Sel'skokhozyaistvennaya Biologiya [Agricultural Biology], 2026, Vol. 61, № 3, p. 465-481.
(how to cite this article)

doi: 10.15389/agrobiology.2026.3.465eng

UDC: 635.657: 631.559.2:581.4:577.2

 

GROUPING CHICKPEA (Cicer arietinum L.) GENOTYPES BASED ON DIVERSE AGRONOMIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

M. Nouraein, F. Shekari, N. Sabaghnia✉, M. Janmohammadi

Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Agriculture College, University of Maragheh,East Azerbaijan Province, Maragheh, University of Maragheh, 97HF+498, Iran, e-mail mojtabanouraein@maragheh.ac.ir, fshekari@maragheh.ac.ir, sabaghnia@maragheh.ac.ir (✉ corresponding author), mjanmohammadi@maragheh.ac.ir

ORCID:
Nouraein M. orcid.org/0000-0001-5124-7773
Sabaghnia N. orcid.org/0000-0001-9690-6525
Shekari F. orcid.org/0000-0002-8760-0556
Janmohammadi M. orcid.org/0000-0002-6121-6791

Final revision received September 26, 2025
Accepted October 15, 2025

Despite its importance, chickpea cultivation is often limited by low yield performance. Breeding programs provide a promising solution, and assessing genetic diversity through cluster analysis is crucial for designing effective improvement strategies. This study evaluated the genetic diversity of 36 chickpea genotypes using a randomized complete block design with three replicates over two years. A total of 25 traits were analyzed, revealing high coefficients of variation for grain yield and most yield components, highlighting substantial variability among the genotypes, especially for one-grain pod of the secondary branches, grain number and weight of secondary pods, husk weight of primary and secondary pods, and two-grain pod of the primary and secondary branches across both years, indicating higher genetic variability for these important traits. The chickpea traits were grouped into five and six clusters in the first and second years, respectively. These findings identified the number of pods and grains and their components as the main factors contributing to yield performance in chickpea. Dendrograms for exploring the structures among the chickpea genotypes indicated four distinct categories in both years, and 2 (6/A2), 4 (15/A2), 5 (18/A2), and 6 (2/A2) were found as the most favorable genotypes. Stability analysis using the environmental coefficient of variation (ECV) identified Category-C in the first year and Category-D in the second year as the most stable groups, emphasizing the influence of year-specific environmental conditions. In addition, ECV identified genotypes 1 (8/A2), 2 (6/A2), 3 (13/A2), 4 (15/A2), and 12 (7/A1) as combining superior performance with high stability across multiple traits. Some of these genotypes; 2 (6/A2), and 4 (15/A2), consistently combined high performance with stability across grain yield and most traits, making them strong candidates for further breeding, multi-environment testing, and potential cultivar release.

Keywords: chickpea, cluster analysis, dendrogram, grain yield, yield components.

 

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