Ten selections from the cultivar China A, with widely different pod lengths, were compared in a single environment in Perth in 1983. Pod length was correlated positively with seed weight per pod but negatively with number of pods per plant. As a result, there was no significant relationship between pod length and seed yield, although the highest- and lowest-yielding lines were, respectively, longand short-podded.

Two lines differing markedly in pod length were compared in a second experiment in 1984 in which sowing date and plant population density within a sowing date were varied. Although pod length was relatively stable, seed yield and some of its components were greatly affected by sowing date and plant density. Again, the long-podded line produced fewer pods with a greater weight of seed per pod than the short-podded line in most conditions. Compensation for greater seed weight per pod by a reduction in number of pods per plant was primarily responsible for the absence of significant differences in yield between lines in any treatment.

Although long pods generally produced a greater weight of seeds per pod than short pods, the advantage in seed number and/or the weights of individual seeds was less than that expected pro rata for the much greater pod length. Indeed, short pods produced more seeds per unit length of pod than long pods. This suggested a less efficient distribution of assimilates within the longer pods, a greater amount being required to support the growth of pod walls than in short pods.

Alternative approaches to using pod length as a criterion of selection for high yield are discussed.