Genetic Variability and Heritability of Quantitative Traits in Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill)

Soybean (Glycine max) is an economically important crop that exhibits a wide range of quantitative traits, such as yield, seed size and oil content. Understanding the genetic variability and heritability of quantitative traits play a crucial role in soybean breeding programs aimed at improving crop productivity and quality. In this study, we aimed to assess the genetic variability and heritability of various quantitative traits in soybean. To determine this, diverse set of soybean germplasm lines were collected from National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) Ibadan. Oyo State Nigeria. These lines were evaluated for various quantitative traits such as plant height, number of pods per plant, seed weight and yield per plant. The data obtained from these evaluations were subjected to statistical analysis to estimate the genetic variability. Furthermore, we estimated the heritability of these traits to understand the extent to which they are influenced by genetic factors. The heritability estimates were obtained using statistical methods such as broad sense heritability (H2) which measures the proportion of phenotypic variation that can be attributed to genetic factors, including both additive and non-additive effects. Our findings demonstrated that most of the quantitative traits in soybean exhibited moderate to high heritability, indicating that these traits are influenced by genetic factors to a significant extent. This also suggests that selective breeding programs targeting these traits can be effective in improving soybean varieties. The study provides valuable insights into the genetic variability and heritability of quantitative traits in soybean, the identification of genetic diversity and estimation of heritability can aid in the development of improved soybean varieties with enhanced yield, seed size and oil content.