Development of the pea lines that are highly yielded for canned which are favorable for central anatolian conditions

This study aimed to develop high-yielding pea lines suitable for canning and adapted to the ecological conditions of Central Anatolia. Field experiments were conducted during the 2023 and 2024 growing seasons under Konya conditions, using a full diallel mating design involving five parental lines. The resulting F₁ and F₂ hybrids were evaluated for major agronomic traits including seed yield, 100-seed weight, plant height, number of pods per plant, and number of seeds per pod. Significant genetic variation was observed among genotypes for all studied traits. According to the findings, certain parents exhibited high general combining ability (GCA), indicating strong additive gene effects. Additionally, specific crosses showed high specific combining ability (SCA) values, suggesting that non-additive gene actions (dominant and epistatic) played an important role in the inheritance of several traits. Heterosis and heterobeltiosis analyses revealed that many hybrid combinations outperformed their respective parents, with some showing heterotic effects exceeding 200%. These results highlight the potential of hybrid breeding strategies even in a predominantly self-pollinated species like pea. Analysis of genetic variance components revealed that traits such as seed yield and plant height were primarily governed by non-additive gene effects, whereas 100-seed weight exhibited moderate heritability. These findings emphasize the importance of combining hybridization and selection approaches in classical breeding programs. The superior hybrid combinations identified in this study offer valuable genetic material for developing stable, high-yielding pea cultivars tailored to semi-arid regions, such as Central Anatolia, that meet both producer and processing industry demands.