EVALUATION OF SOYBEAN [GLYCINE MAX (L.) MERRILL] GERMPLASM FOR SOME IMPORTANT MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS USING MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS

One hundred thirty nine soybean genotypes were evaluated for yield and yield associated traits at National Agriculture Research Centre, Islamabad. The traits viz., days to maturity, plant height at maturity, number of branches per plant, number of filled pods per plant, number of unfilled pods per plant, 100-seed weight, oil content, grain yield per plant, biological yield per plant and harvest index were studied. The results revealed significant differences among genotypes for all studied traits. Cluster analysis based on these traits, 139 genotypes were divided into five clusters. Cluster I showed maximum number of filled pods per plant, 100-seed weight, grain yield per plant, biological yield and harvest index. Cluster II showed least oil content, grain yield per plant and harvest index. Cluster III showed maximum plant height and number of branches per plant. Cluster IV comprised of accessions having high oil content and least number of unfilled pods per plant while early maturity was observed in cluster V. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that first three components accounted 69.77% of the total variance. PC1 indicated that number of filled pods per plant, grain yield and biological yield per plant were important traits for classification. While 100-seed weight, oil content and harvest index were important in PC2. In the PC3 days to maturity and number of branches per plant were important. Principal component and clustering obtained from this study can make better choice for soybean breeders for selecting genotypes among large number of accessions.