Interrelationship of Quantitative Traits through Correlation and Path Analysis in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

The 34 chickpea genotypes were investigated at the Field Experimentation Centre of the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, U.P., during Rabi 2017-2018. The present experiment was conducted in a Randomized Block Design with three replications. Observations were recorded on five randomly selected plants for nine quantitative traits from each replication. The mean sum of squares due to genotypes showed significant differences for all traits. The genotype CSJ-1085 (15.91 g) exhibited maximum seed yield per plant, whereas the lowest value (5.70 g) was recorded in genotype CSJ-1101. Seed yield per plant showed a significant positive association with plant height (cm), number of pods per plant, seed index (g), biological yield per plant (g) and harvest index (%) at both genotypic and phenotypic levels, and with number of seeds per pod at the genotypic level only. Path analysis revealed that plant height (cm) and number of pods per plant had the strongest positive direct effects on seed yield (g), followed by biological yield (g), seed index (g) and harvest index (%), making them important selection criteria in chickpea breeding programs.