Character Association for Growth and Yield Parameters in Orange in Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) Genotypes

Abstract

Correlation analysis serves as an important statistical tool to determine the strength and direction of associations among key plant traits and provides valuable insight into predicting yield responses based on changes in specific characteristics. Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] is a cross-pollinated crop and highly heterozygous in nature, in which many of the characters show continuous variation. Selection for tuber yield, which is a polygenic trait, often leads to changes in other characters. The present study was undertaken to characterize morphological and quantitative traits of sweet potato and to assess the interrelationships among these traits in relation to total storage root yield. A research was carried out involving sixteen orange-fleshed sweet potato genotypes to examine the connections between traits and their direct and indirect effects on yield, aiming to comprehend how relationships among characters affect tuber yield. The genotypes were defined according to their reactions to 10 morphological and 18 quantitative traits. Correlation analyses were performed on 18 traits related to yield and its components. Character association revealed a positive and significant relationship between tuber yield and the number of tubers per plant, yield per plant, vine length, internodal length, leaf area, and tuber diameter. The correlation results obtained in the present study indicated that parameters viz., vine length, number of leaves per vine, number of branches per vine, number of tubers per vine, tuber weight, tuber length and tuber girth are the important components of yield as they showed positive significant association with yield.