Quantitative genetic variation, heritability and genetic advance in the segregating F3 populations in Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merril

Genotypes of soybean Glycine max (L.) Merill were grown during the wet and dry seasons of 2011/ 2012 to study the variation and yield component among quantitative traits like; days to 50 percent flowering , plant height, seed dry weight, number of pods per plant, number of branches per plant, days to maturity, seed yield , number of seed per plant and 100-seed weight. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design replicated three times. All the characters measured showed significant genetic variability with low heritable variation in plant height (3.92%) and number of pods per plant (5.91). Heritability was highest for five characters i.e. days to maturity, days to 50 per cent flowering, seed yield, seed dry weight and 100-seed weight. Seed yield showed significant and positive correlation with number of seed per plant (0.438) and seed dry weight (0.936) and also negative but highly significant correlation with days to 50 percent flowering (-0.786) and days to maturity (-0.396).