Path Coefficient Analysis of Some Prominent Agronomic Traits in Castor (Ricinus communis L.) Germplasm

Abstract

Background and Objective: Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is a diploid plant with chromosome number of 2n=20 which belongs to family of Euphorbiaceous and genus Ricinus. Correlation alone is not efficient for variability studies. So, it should be in conjugation with Path co- efficient analysis to know the direct and indirect effects. This study was conducted to assess the role of evaluating path coefficient analysis in castor.
 Materials and Methods: A Field experiment was carried out to determine direct and indirect effects of yield and its components in castor accessions at Melkassa, central rift valley of Ethiopia under irrigation in 2014. The experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design with 3 replications and a total of 48 castor accessions were evaluated.
 Results: Number of capsules per plant, number of primary branches per plant, length of inter node and hundred seed weight had exerted positive direct effect for both at phenotypic and genotypic path analysis.Phenotypic and genotypic path analysis showed that the number of capsules per plant, number of secondary branches per plant, length of inter node, days to 50% second flowering and seed yield exhibited positive direct effect on oil content. 
 Conclusion: Thus, traits like number of capsules per plant, number of secondary branches per plant, length of inter nod and days to 50% second flowering should be given emphasis in improving seed yield.

A biorefinery model for the production of oil and biomethane using castor plants

“…Many studies have reported positive and significant correlations among seed yield, height at flowering, number of racemes per plant, raceme length, number of capsules per raceme, and 100 seed weight (Mullualem Atinafu et al, 2019; Ramesh & Venkate, 2001). The seed weight observed in the present study was in accordance with other studies, such as Goodarzi et al (2015), who reported that the 10‐seed weight on the primary raceme varied from 2.1 to 3.3 g, whereas Bhardwaj et al (1996) reported a 100‐seed weight variable ranged from 10 to 44 g.…”

“…Among the fungal pretreated thesis, I. lacteus showed the highest BMY per hectare (75.80 and 144.5 m 3 CH 4 ha −1 for N0 and N120, respectively) while P. ostreatus reached values of 54.29 for N0 and 129.8 m 3 CH 4 ha −1 for N120 (Figure 9). Many studies have reported positive significant correlations among seed yield, height at flowering, number of racemes per plant, raceme length, number of capsules per raceme, and 100 seed weight (Mullualem Atinafu et al, 2019;Ramesh & Venkate, 2001). The seed weight observed in the present study was in accordance with other studies, such as Goodarzi et al (2015), who reported that the 10-seed weight on the primary raceme varied from 2.1 to 3.3 g, whereas Bhardwaj et al (1996) reported a 100-seed weight variable ranged from 10 to 44 g. The increase in nitrogen dose significantly affected the main yield contributing traits, such as the number of secondary racemes, number of capsules per raceme for both primary and secondary racemes, and seed weight of primary raceme.…”