Association of traits between yield and yield components plays a great importance for the development of high yielding maize genotypes. The study included twenty-four open pollinated maize genotypes planted in a randomized complete block design at the main experimental station of Jigjiga Pastoral and Agricultural Research Center with the aim of establishing the association and direct and indirect effect of various components of characters on yield. Grain yield showed significantly positive phenotypic and genotypic correlations with its yield related components (harvest index, thousand kernel weights, number of ears per plant, number of kernels per row, number of ears per plot, biological yield, plant height, leaf area index, anthesis-silking interval and ear height). However, significantly negative phenotypic relationship was observed between flowering traits and grain yield. Harvest index and biological yield also exerted maximum genotypic positive direct effects on the primary trait, while high genotypic negative direct effects were exerted by days to silking and number of ears per plot. Therefore, the combination of these traits along with yield could be used in indirect selection indices for the breeding by selection of potentially high yielding maize genotypes.

Keywords: Agronomic traits, correlation coefficient, open pollinated maize genotypes, path coefficient.