Asfaw Zemede (Professor)Wondimageghu Blen2018-07-172023-11-092018-07-172023-11-092017-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/8989Among legumes, the field pea has multiple purpose of fixing atmospheric nitrogen and providing protein. This study was undertaken to identify the phenotypic diversity of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) landrace accessions, improved and introduced varieties. It was planted in two locations namely Holeta and Debrezeit agricultural research centers using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 3 replications during the 2016-2017 cropping season. Standard morphological measurements and scores were taken and the harvested grains were analyzed for their mineral contents including Iron, Zinc, Calcium, Copper, Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Selenium. The morphological and mineral content data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The genotypes showed morphological diversity as observed in the field trails. The results showed that significant differences exist among samples, within blocks and across locations. Cluster analysis for average performances grouped the genotypes into two different classes where cluster 1 had short maturity period whereas cluster 2 had high grain production and total biomass production even though they are late maturing. In the correlation analysis, days to maturity was highly correlated to total biomass production and grain yield to which breeders draw much attention. All the nine minerals that were analyzed, was there but varied from sample to sample. The amounts of Ca, K, Mg and P were relatively higher in the landraces than in the other samples. It had high Ca, Fe and P compared to lentil and faba bean. There was strong positive correlation between the research sites in Holeta and Debrezeit. Diseases like ascochyta blight and powdery mildew with scales of 1-9 were present. From 77 samples RAYA 1, DEKOKO 41 and DEKOKO 15 were resistant for both diseases. The early genotypes (the DEKOKO varieties) can be used in drought prone areas or in double cropping while those lines shown to be resistant to ascochyta blight and powdery mildew could be taken up in breeding programs. Key words: Chemical composition, correlation, cluster, morphological diversity, RCBD, Pisum sativumenChemical compositionCorrelationClusterMorphological diversityRCBDPisum sativumThesis