Correlation and path analysis for yield and yield attributing traits in advance wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) breeding lines

The current research was undertaken to study the character association with direct indirect effect and its influence on a set of fifty genotypes. The experiment was conducted at the farm of Wheat and Maize Research Unit, Parbhani (Maharashtra) during Rabi season 2023-24. The genotypes were grown in Randomized Block Design with two replications and data were collected on ten morphological traits. The genotypic correlation coefficient was higher than the phenotypic correlation coefficient. Correlation studies revealed that grain yield per plant was highly significant and positively correlated with harvest index, number of productive tillers per plant, number of grains per spike, spike length, 1000 grain weight and biological yield per plant at both the genotypic and phenotypic levels. The path coefficient analysis showed that number of grains per spike, number of productive tillers per plant, biological yield per plant and harvest index exhibited positive direct effect and significant positive genotypic correlation with grain yield per plant. Also, Maximum contribution through direct effect towards the grain yield shown by the biological yield followed by harvest index and 1000 grain weight. Therefore, direct selection for these characters would be easy and would be rewarding improvement in grain yield of wheat. These findings provide valuable insights for Wheat breeding strategies aimed at enhancing grain yield potential.