Analysis of genetic parameters, heritability, and path analysis in chickpeas under irrigated and rainfed conditions

Chickpea is a crop containing high protein and has a vital role in the diet of food security in the world, especially in developing countries. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the genetic diversity, heritability, and path analysis in chickpea cultivars, based on the Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications in 2023. The geographical coordinates are north latitude 34°58′ longitude 18°48′ and altitude was 1607. Calculation of genetic correlation in both environmental conditions showed that traits of plant height, number of seeds per plant, number of pods per plant, single plant biomass, seed yield of single plant without pods, the total number of main branches of the plant, grain yield of single plant with pods, grain yield (m ² ), biomass (m ² ), the stubble weight and harvest index, had high genetic correlation with each other. The highest percentage of heritability in irrigated conditions was related to biomass (m ² ) (0.96), number of pods per plant, and SPAD chlorophyll index at the fruiting stage (0.98). The highest percentage of heritability of grain yield (m ² ) under irrigated was (0.97), biomass, and SPAD chlorophyll index (0.99). The grain yield, biomass, and SPAD chlorophyll index at the fruiting time had the highest amount of heritability under rainfed conditions and also had the highest level of genetic gain. In normal conditions, traits the total number of main branches of the plant (0.06) and grain yield (0.09), had the lowest heritability and genetic gain. Under drought stress, trait the total number of main branches of the plant (0.16) had the lowest heritability and also had the lowest genetic gain (1.07). These results can be used in breeding programs to select for drought tolerance. The first four principal components accounted for 90.966% of the variance under irrigated and 95.362% of variance under rainfed conditions.