Abstract
Two field experiments were conducted to investigate the genetic variability for various pod and seed quality characteristics in vegetable pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp). In the first experiment 20 short-duration (SD) pigeonpea genotypes were evaluated to identify promising breeding lines with superior physical quality traits (pod length, pod width (PW), seed number per pod, hundred seed weight (HSW) and shelling percentage). In the second experiment selected SD genotypes from the previous study were compared with indeterminate (ID) genotypes that enjoy consumer acceptance for the above physical quality traits as well as biochemical quality traits (total sugar content (TSU), polyphenol content, starch content, crude protein content and total chlorophyll). The study showed that the new SD breeding lines represented a significant improvement in pod and seed quality over UW10, the standard variety. Further improvement particularly in HSW and to a lesser extent in PW and TSU should nevertheless be pursued to improve consumer acceptance. The lack of genetic variation for HSW in the SD vegetable pigeonpea cohort suggested that this has to be incorporated into the SD photoperiod insensitive background. The lack of any negative correlations between HSW and other quality traits suggested that improvement in HSW can be pursued without negatively impacting other quality traits. Marker assisted selection is suggested as a means of incorporating HSW into the short duration vegetable pigeonpea genotypes, considering the complex nature of inheritance of HSW.
