Phenotypic stability of pea (Pisum sativum) genotypes for yield and its component traits for off-season cultivation under mid hill conditions of north-western Himalayas

Abstract

Pea (Pisum sativum var hortense) is cultivated twice in a year in hilly areas of north-western Himalayas and hence has significance as an off-season vegetable crop. The offseason cultivation needs genotypes with stable performance for yield and its component traits over the years bringing remunerative returns to the farmers. Eighteen diverse genotypes were studied for four consecutive years during the winters of 2001 to 2004 for stable performance. The mean squares for G x E (linear) were significant for all the characters, indicating thereby difference in response of genotypes over the years. The genotypes 'Azad Pea l', 'Lincoln', 'VRP 1', 'GC 447', and 'Palam Priya' gave a stable performance over all the climates for majority of the characters studied.