Analysis of Character Association of Quantitative Traits in Lupinus Species

An evaluation of the agronomic performance of two lupin species (Lupinus albus and Lupinus luteus) was conducted at the Institute of Forage Crops (Bulgaria) during 2012-2014. The hightest positive correlations among the agronomic traits in white lupin were between number of pods per plant and seed weight per plant (r = 0.956); plant height with pod stem length (r = 0.935) and pod length (r = 0.934); seed weight per plant and number of pods per plant (r = 0.956). In yellow lupin relatively high phenotypic correlations were detected between number of pods per plant and seed weight per plant (r = 0.956); seed weight per plant and number of pods (r = 0.875) and number of seeds per plant (r = 0.927). Collecting data on the mutual relationships among individual yield components and their effect on the yield remains crucial for their optimisation and development of improved lupin genotypes with high quality and stable yields. Based on the trait associations it can be concluded that lupin breeders should pay attention to the traits such as pod length, number of seeds per plant and 1000 seeds mass when selecting high-yielding genotypes.