GENOTYPIC AND PHENOTYPIC VARIANCE, CORRELATION, AND PATH COEFFICIENT ANALYSIS IN MAIZE

A half diallel crossing was carried out between six Inbreeds of maize according to the second Griffing method. The genotypes (parents and the hybrids resulting from them) were planted during the spring and fall seasons of 2022 using a randomized complete block design (R.C.B.D) with three replicates to study genetic and phenotypic correlations and their variations and the path coefficient for traits (number of silking days, plant height, leaf area, number of ears, number of rows per ear, number of grains per row, weight of 500 grains, and grain yield per plant). Analysis of Variance showed highly significant differences between the genotypes for all the studied traits for the fall and spring seasons of 2020. The results indicated that the values of the phenotypic variation coefficient were close to the values of the genetic variation coefficient for most traits. Accordingly, the genotype can be studied by taking phenotypic data, and such traits can be considered as a selection index for improving this crop. The brant yield was (0.874 and 0.6 the number of rows per ear, as they reached (0.691, 0.498, and 0.671) for the spring season, respectively, and (0.701, 0.516, and 0.689) for the fall of rows per ear in breeding programs to increase yields in yellow maize.