Morphological characterization and assessment of genetic variability in soybean varieties

Twelve varieties of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill.) were evaluated in randomized block design with three replications for variability, heritability and genetic advance during kharif 2013 and 2014. Observations on ten agronomic along with five morphological characters were observed. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among the genotypes for the all the characters. High PCV coupled with high GCV, observed for number of primary branches per plant, number of nodes per plant, plant height and seed yield per plant. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as percent of mean was observed for plant height, number of primary branches plant per plant and harvest index in both the years indicating operation of additive gene action and the ample scope for improvement in these traits through simple selection.