Articles
IMPACT OF PEA CULTIVARS ON SEED PRODUCTION IN LIBYA
Seeds were planted in November.
Mature plants were harvested in late April or early May.
Data of the two years combined were statistically analysed.
These included weight of seeds per plant, i.e. seed yield, composed of number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, and seed size expressed as weight.
Number of pods, and number of seeds per pod and seed yield were influenced by a significant interaction between cultivars and years.
Rondo, Progress No. 9 and Vitalis produced higher seed yields than other cultivars, in either year or both years.
Their average yield was 4.38–5.75 g per plant.
Six cultivars behaved differently in the two years.
Stability of yield from season to season was shown by Corona Imperiale the average yield of which was 3.27 g in 1974–75 and 3.77 g in 1975–76.
Rondo produced a high number of pods, 6.48, in 1974–75 but was not significantly different from Corona Imperiale, Vitalis, and some other cultivars.
Vitalis also gave a high number of pods, 6.03, in 1975–76. Seasonal variation in number of pods was encountered in seven cultivars.
Corona Imperiale and Vitalis each responded similarly in both years.
Cultivars with the highest number of seeds per pod included Corona Imperiale, Rondo and Vitalis in each year.
Their pods possessed 2.97–3.27 seeds on the average, with no significant differences.
The significant variation in seed size among cultivars indicated that the heaviest seeds, 314–323 mg, were produced by No. 40 and Progress No. 9. Corona Imperiale and Vitalis possessed medium size seeds, 232–246 mg.
The size of Rondo seeds was above the average, 297 mg.
Simple and partial correlations were calculated between seed yield and each of the three components of yield.
The partial correlation was greater than simple correlation, especially when the yield was correlated to one component while keeping the other two components constant.
All r values were positive and highly significant.
The best indicator of yield among the components was the number of pods, followed by number of seeds per pod and seed size.
Values of r were 0.922, 0.864, and 0.841, respectively.
The corresponding values of the coefficient of determination indicated that as much as 85.0 percent of variation in seed yield can be ascribed to the effect of pod number, 74.7% to the influence of seed number per pod, and 70.0% to the seed size effect.