​Character Association and Path Analysis in Heterotic Recombinant Inbred Lines in Garden Pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Abstract

Background: Garden pea is one of the principal vegetable crops cultivated in the temperate and sub- tropical areas of the world for its green pods. It is an important food legume worldwide after Phaseolus vulgaris. The knowledge about the interdependence of characters in a particular crop can effectively be employed to breed desirable cultivars and to challenge the consequences of the unprecedented biological, physical and chemical stresses of the future growing conditions. The regression and path analysis further has significance for the assured selection of the varieties with desirable traits and hence adaptation of species in different agro-climatic conditions; hence it is also one of the prerequisites for crop improvement programmes. Correlation and path analysis in garden pea explained that among all the yield contributing traits, number of pods per plant and pod weight have significant contribution in increasing the green pod yield per plant. Methods: 14 heterotic recombinant inbred lines and 17 existing cultivars of garden pea, were put to experimentation for working out the association of the yield and yield contributing component characters under the open field conditions of Regional Horticultural Research and Training Station, Bajaura Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, India. This association was further elaborated through the coefficient of correlation and regression analysis and path coefficient analysis. Result: The genotypic correlation coefficients were found higher than the phenotypic correlation coefficients for all the characters studied. The correlation coefficients revealed that green pod yield per plant had highly significant and positive association with pod weight and number of pods per plant. The path coefficient analysis also revealed that the maximum positive direct effect on green pod yield per plant was exerted by the number of pods per plant, pod weight and 100-seed weight. Through regression equation analysis it became clear that number of pods per plant, pod weight contributed significantly in increasing the green pod yield per plant. With a unit increase in these independent characters, the green pod yield per plant will increase by 2.34 and 33.45 per cent. It can thus be concluded that despite of the positive correlation of almost all the characters with green pod yield per plant, only number of pods per plant and pod weight are important and significant independent characters for increasing the green pod yield per plant.