CHARACTERIZATION OF PEANUT (Arachis hypogaea L.) GERMPLASM FOR MORPHOLOGICAL AND QUALITY TRAITS IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT

Exploring the genetic variation is the base of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) breeding program since peanut is an important food legumes and oilseed crop of the world, but its breeding is neglected compared to major oilseed crops. A field study was conducted to characterize the genetic variation and correlation among important yield and quality related traits of peanut under arid climate conditions during two consecutive years 2015 and 2016. Results revealed that a higher genetic diversity is present among the tested genotypes with respect to pod yield, oil contents and fatty acid composition. The highest number of leaves per plant, pods per plant, seed weight, pod yield, oil contents and palmitic acid were recorded in genotype 'BARI-2011' as compared with the other peanut genotypes. However, 100-seed weight was the maximum in genotype `Golden'. Among the years, the morphological, yield parameters, oil contents and palmitic acid was the higher in second year than those of the first year of experimentation. In conclusion, the high genetic variability has been found among the peanut germplasms may contribute to develop a high yielding variety with good seed quality.