Character Association and Path Coefficient Analysis in Spanish Bunch Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted on 95 genotypes of spanish bunch groundnut in Randomized Block Design (RBD) design during 2022-23 in Kharif season, for studying the correlation between yield and its contributing traits. Correlation analysis identified traits such as number of primary branches per plant, number of mature pods, 100-pod weight, kernel yield per plant, 100-kernel weight, sound mature kernel, biological yield per plant, harvest index, oil content, and chlorophyll content at 30, 60, and 90 DAS as strong and consistent positive contributors to pod yield per plant, highlighted their importance in selection for yield improvement in Spanish bunch groundnut. Kernel yield per plant, biological yield per plant and harvest index had positive direct effects, along with significantly positive correlations in genotypic path; however, in phenotypic path, all the traits except days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height and shelling percentage had positive direct effects with significantly positive correlations, indicating the importance of selecting these traits for improvement in pod yield per plant in Spanish bunch groundnut.