Variability, Correlation and Path Analysis for Grain Yield Characters of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Genotypes

Abstract

The present investigation with thirty-four accessions of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes (26 Advanced breeding lines (ABL’s),7 Dhan varieties and one check) were investigated to study variability, correlation and path analysis for yield contributing characters carried out at the Field Experimentation Centre, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj during Kharif-2021 in Randomized Block Design with three replications. NDR 359 rice variety was used as the check. The data was recorded for 13 quantitative traits viz Days to 50% flowering, Plant height (cm), Flag leaf length (cm), Flag leaf width (cm), Number of total tillers per hill, Number of panicles per hill, Panicle length (cm), Number of spikelets per panicle, Days to maturity, Biological index, Harvest index (%), Test weight (g), Grain yield per hill (g) using agro-morphological traits. The mean sum of squares due to genotypes was highly significant for all the quantitative characters in ANOVA. The characters with high range estimates of GCV and PCV (Grain yield per hill), heritability (days to maturity) and genetic advance as percent mean (number of spikelets per panicle,) should be given top priority during selection. For character association, grain yield per hill showed positive significance with flag leaf length, number of spikelets per panicle, biological yield, harvest index, number of tillers per hill, biological yield because  it help in determining the nature and extent of the relationship existing between the yield and its contributing components and their association.Path analysis further proved about the direct and indirect effect of characters on grain yield. Days to 50% flowering, flag leaf width, number of panicles per hill, biological yield, harvest index showed positive direct effect at both genotypic and phenotypic level indicating their importance in breeding programme. So direct selection of the above characters will be rewarding.