M.B. KUMBHAR, A.S. LARIK and H.M.I. HAFIZ*
Department of plant Breeding and Genetics, Sind Agriculture University Tandojam, Pakistan.
Grain yield is a complex phenomenon, resulting from various contributory characters, highly influenced by environmental fluctuations. However, yield could easily be estimated on the basis of the performance of yield components and other closely associated characters of the plants (LARIK et al. 1980). Correlation coefficient has been used to identify the grain yield components (LARIK 1978) but the technique of path coefficient analysis (DEWEY & LU 1959 JAIN et al. 1975, LARIK 1979) has been found more useful as it differenciates specific forces acting directly and indirectly to produce a particular association which can be successfully employed in formulating efficient selection programme for synthesis of new wheat ideotypes with improved yield and yield components.
Materials and Methods
Two durum (66T12, Red 5132) and three hexaploid wheat cultivars (Tosun 22, 66T 1435, Bezosteya 1) were grown during the year 1978-79 in a randomized block design with four replications at the Agronomic Research Area of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ankara, Turkey. Homogeneous seeds of these cultivars were drilled in rows each 300 cm long with 30 cm interrow distance. Observations were recorded on plants in one meter row length selected randomly. Following characters were measured : X1=plants/m2, X2=spikes/ m2, X3=seeds/m2, X4=days to heading, X5=harvest index, Y=yield/m2 (dependent character). Correlations and path coefficients were calculated by the technique out lined by DEWEY & LU (1959) in which the end product :
Components of correlation
which indicate direct
as well as indirect effects of one variable through another one on the end
product. Multiple correlations and partial regressions were calculated by
using the formulae suggested by STEEL & TORRIE (1960).