Correlation and Path Coefficients Studies of Some Morphological and Seed Vigour Traits in Barley Cultivars (Hordeum vulgare L.) under Two Sowing Conditions

Abstract

The experimental material comprised of 50 diverse genotypes were sown in randomized block design with three replications in both timely and late sown condition to study correlation and path coefficient for ten quantitative field traits like days to heading, days to maturity, plant height (cm), spike length (cm), number of tillers per meter row, number of grains per spike,1000 grain weight (g), harvest index (%), biological yield (kg/plot), grain yield (kg/plot) and eight seed parameters viz; seedling length (cm), seed density (g/cc), standard germination (%), seedling dry weight (mg), vigour index I, vigour index II, electrical conductivity (µS/cm/seed) and accelerated ageing at 48 and 72 hours. The grain yield was found to be positively and significantly associated with harvest index, 1000 grain weight and biological yield per plot in both the environments. Characters such as germination per cent, accelerated ageing (48 h, 72 h) and days to maturity were significantly and positively correlated with grain yield under timely sown condition likewise vigour index-I, seedling dry weight and number of tillers per meter were some other traits which had significant positive association with grain yield under late sown condition. Path coefficient analysis indicated that biological yield per plot, harvest index, vigour index-II and seedling length had high positive and significant direct effect in both the environments. Accordingly, emphasis could be given on these traits during selection for varietal improvement programme.

Selection strategies for yield enhancement in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

“…Direct and indirect effects of these components determined on grain yield at genotypic level are presented in Table 2. The results of path coefficient analysis revealed that days to maturity (0.477) exerted the highest positive direct effect on grain yield followed by 1000-grain weight (0.218), spike length (0.060), plant height (0.041) and number of grains per spike (0.040), which support the findings of Devi et al [10] except for number of tillers per meter however, Kumar et al [9] in their findings mentioned positive direct effect of number of tillers per meter on grain yield. Therefore, these traits could be considered as main components for selection in a breeding program for higher grain yield.…”

“…3 20 and number of grains per spike with effective tillers per meter; and number of grains per spike with 1000-grain weight, thereby indicating that these traits could not be improved simultaneously. Some authors also reported significant positive correlation for days to heading with maturity [8], plant height with spike length [9], days to maturity with days to maturity and spike length; plant height with spike length and number of grains per spike [10]. The negative and significant relation of effective tillers per meter with plant height and number of grains per spike; 1000-grain weight with number of grains per spike also corroborated with the findings of Devi et al [10] under different environments.…”

“…Some authors also reported significant positive correlation for days to heading with maturity [8], plant height with spike length [9], days to maturity with days to maturity and spike length; plant height with spike length and number of grains per spike [10]. The negative and significant relation of effective tillers per meter with plant height and number of grains per spike; 1000-grain weight with number of grains per spike also corroborated with the findings of Devi et al [10] under different environments. The negative but non-significant association between spike length and effective tillers per meter was also confirmed by Kumar et al [7] in barley.…”