Enhancing Yield Potential in Vegetable Pea through Multi-Flowering Trait: Genetic Variability and Principal Component Analysis

Abstract

Vegetable pea (Pisum sativum L. var. hortense) is a nutritionally and economically important legume, yet productivity gains have remained limited despite expanded cultivation. This study evaluated multi-flowering pea genotypes for yield potential relative to commercially grown single- and double-podded varieties. Significant genetic variability was observed for key agro-morphological and yield-related traits, with yield per plant ranging from 78.0 g (single-podded VRPSel-17) to 176.0 g (multi-podded VRPM-901-5). Traits including days to 50% flowering, total flowers per plant, branches per plant, pods per plant, plant height, and yield per plant exhibited high phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation, heritability, and genetic advance, indicating strong genetic control and substantial potential for improvement through selection. Notably, pods per plant, total flowers per plant, and branches per plant showed strong positive correlations with yield, highlighting their utility as reliable selection indices. Principal component analysis revealed that the first three components accounted for 61.54% of total variation, with PC1 associated with total flowers, pods per plant, and ten pod weight; PC2 with yield per plant, seeds per pod, and pod length; and PC3 with pod width and days to picking. Collectively, yield- and pod-associated traits constituted the primary contributors to genetic divergence, enabling the effective discrimination and selection of superior genotypes. The present findings identify critical target traits and superior multi-flowering genotypes VRPM-901-5, BSW-136, BSW-2, VRP-343, and VRPE-52 for use in breeding programs aimed at enhancing pea productivity.