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General and Specific Combining Ability for Several Agronomic Traits in Diallel Cross Progenies of Cicer Milkvetch¹

Cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.) was evaluated in a six-parent diallel for vigor score, height, and date of flowering for 2 years and for spread and seed weight for 1 year. F₁ progenies, their reciprocals, and parental clones were grown under irrigation. Significant differences occurred among crosses and among parental clones for all characters each year. The variance for these traits was partitioned into general combining ability, specific combining ability, and reciprocal effects. General combining ability was significant for all characters, except vigor score in the seedling year. Specific combining ability was significant for vigor score both years, height in the seedling year, and date of flowering in the second year. Reciprocal effects were significant for vigor score both years, date of flowering both years, and height in the second year. Because most of the genetic variance for all characters except 1971 vigor was caused by the additive component, recurrent selection should be an effective method for improving cicer milkvetch.

Key Words: Astragalus cicer L. • Genetic variance

² Research geneticist, ARS, USDA , crops research lab., Colo. State U., Fort Collins, CO 80523. I appreciate the assistance of R. H. Weaver in the statistical treatment of the data and of E. E. Kler and W. D. Ackerman in its collection.

Received for publication August 16, 1974.