Variability in pod and seed traits of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pongamia pinnata</Emphasis> Pierre ecotypes in North Karnataka,India

An evaluation of 30 naturally available candidate-plus trees (CPTs) of Pongamia pinnata was carried out to elucidate the genetic variability and relationship of pod and seed traits and progeny growth traits to select the best planting material with higher productivity. Significant variations were observed in pod and seed characteristics, oil content, and during the progeny trial studies. The highest values were found in 100-pod weight (410.4 gm) and 100-seed weight (195.92 gm) and the phenotypic and genotypic variance was found maximum in 100 pod weight (4364.71 and 4289.93) and 100 seed weight (813.8 and 768.93), respectively. Estimates of the phenotypic coefficient of variance were higher than the genotypic coefficient of variance for all the pod and seed traits and progeny growth traits, which depict the predominant role of the environment. Approximately 99 % of broad-sense heritability was revealed in oil content, followed by 100-pod weight (98.28 %), and canopy growth (96.93 %). Pod thickness shows the highest genetic advance of 56.61 %, followed by pod width (53.43 %) and canopy growth (49.3 %). Pod and seed traits have proven a positive correlation between each other and with progeny growth traits, except a few negative values. Hierarchical clustering by Ward’s minimum variance cluster analysis showed phylogeographical patterns of genetic diversity. K-means clustering revealed that trees from different geographical regions were grouped together in a cluster where as trees from the same geographical area are placed in a different cluster. Seven Pongamia ecotypes (GRP-8, 9, 13, 14, 18, 28, and 29) are found superior in traits, namely 100-pod weight, 100-seed weight, oil content, germination rate, plant height, canopy growth, and collar diameter. The traits 100-pod weight and 100-seed weight are highly correlated with the progeny growth traits and even have higher heritability and genetic advantages.