Association and Path Studies in Maize Over Southern Aravalli Regions of Rajasthan

Abstract

The environment highly influences a complex trait such as grain yield and indirect selection through component traits would be an advisable strategy to increase the selection efficiency. The 45 F1s and their 18 parents and 2 checks were evaluated in three environments viz., E1, E2 and E3 in RBD design with three replications to assess the correlation among the yield components and direct and indirect effects of yield components on grain yield. The association analysis among the eleven traits revealed that the traits days to 50 per cent silking, plant height, ear height, ear length, ear girth, grain rows per ear, 100-grain weight and harvest index had showed positive and significant correlation with grain yield per plant. The perusal of the path coefficient analysis revealed that the maximum direct positive effect was depicted by the harvest index followed by the traits ear height, grain rows per ear, days to 50 per cent silking, 100-grain weight, days to 75 per cent brown husk, ear girth and plant height.