Correlation and Path Analysis in Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) Genotypes

Aims: Evaluation of correlation between yield and yield contributing traits in Sesame, as well as to determine their direct and indirect effects on fruit yield of sesame genotypes.

Study Design: Randomized block design (RBD) with two replications.

Place and Duration of Study: Oilseeds Research Station, Department of genetics and plant breeding, College of Agriculture, VNMKV, Latur (MS), between July 2016 and January2017.

Methodology: For statistical analysis mean values are used. SPSS version 17.0 and GENRES were used to perform the correlation and path analysis using Sixty five accessions and evaluated for the following eleven traits: days to 50% flowering (D50%), days to maturity (DM), capsule length (CL), capsule width (CW), plant height (PH), number of branches per plant (NBP),number of capsules per plant (NCP),number of seeds per capsule (NSC),1000-seed weight (1000SW), oil content (OC), seed yield per plant (SYP).

Results: The correlation analysis indicated that CL (0.237), PH (0.225), NCP (0.806), NSC (0.372), 1000SW (0.657) and OC (0.532) positively correlated with seed yield at genotypic as well as phenotypic levels, respectively. Path coefficient analysis indicated that NCP (0.746), 1000SW (0.356), OC (0.007), NSC (0.267), CL (0.0608) and PH (0.034) exhibited positive direct effect on seed yield.

Conclusion: Positive indirect effect was observed by both DM, NBP has expressed positive and indirect effect on yield via their component traits. Selection among genotypes based on these analyses can be made for further improvement in fruit yield and component characters