Determination of Genetic Parameters of Seed Characteristics in Edible Soybean

Background: Knowledge about genetic parameters can help plant breeders to determine which selection criteria are beneficial. This study aims to estimate the genetic parameters of soybean seed characteristics.Methods: A total of 91 soybean lines from three different populations were evaluated during dry season in 2016. All genetic material used was grown following a randomized complete block design with two replicates. Soybean pods were harvested after 90% of the leaves had yellowed or fallen. The characteristics of the seeds observed included length, width, thickness and weight of 100 seeds.Result: The results showed that there were two seed shapes (round and ellipse) and two seed sizes (large and medium). There is a broad genetic variability of soybean seed characteristics. Heritability broad sense varies from 0.42 to 0.84, classified as moderate (length-width ratio) to high (length, width, thickness, length-thickness ratio, width-thickness ration and weight of 100 seeds). This therefore shows that there is an opportunity to improve the characters of soybean seeds. The length, width, thickness, ratio of the three characters and the weight of 100 seeds can be used as selection criteria in a soybean breeding program to obtain large-seeded soybeans with a round or elliptical shape.