Abstract

The current study was conducted to assess the trait association and path analyses in thirty-six rain fed lowland rice genotypes at two locations. The aim of this present study was to estimate the extent of association between pairs of characters at phenotypic and genotypic levels and thereby compare the direct and indirect effects of the characters. The field experiment was laid out in 6x6 simple lattice design with two replications during 2015/16 cropping season. Thirteen characters were measured including yield and related traits. The extent of phenotypic correlation coefficient values indicated presence of fairly strong inherent association among the studied traits. Moreover, association analyses studies indicated yield had significantly (p<0.05) positive genotypic correlation with days to heading, days to maturity, filled grains per panicle, fertile tillers per plant harvest index, total spikelets per panicle and biomass yield. Path coefficient analyses revealed that biomass yield followed by harvest index, total spikelets per panicle and plant height exhibited the highest direct effects on grain yield; these traits can be considered for direct selection for grain yield of rice.

Key words: Direct effect, indirect effect, path analysis, ground combat vehicle (GCV), packed cell volume (PCV).