Evaluation of genetic diversity, variability, character association and path analysis in diverse inbreds of maize (Zea mays L.)

• Main Author: S. Juliet Hepziba, K. Geetha and S. M. Ibrahim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Indian Society of Plant Breeders 2013-03-01
• Series: Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding
• Subjects: Maize; Genetic diversity; Heritability; Correlation; Path analysis
• Online Access: https://sites.google.com/site/ejpb2011/vol-4-1/EJPB_V4_N1_1067_1072.pdf?attredirects=0

Maize is an important crop after rice and wheat in terms of acreage and ranks second in terms of total production andproductivity. The present investigation was carried out during Kharif 2010, involving 70 diverse inbreds collected fromdifferent locations. Genetic diversity, variability, association of yield with other component traits and relative importanceof direct and indirect effects of different components on yield were assessed. Grouping of genotypes based on biometricaltraits led to the formation of ten clusters. The cluster I consisted of 19 inbreds, cluster II consisted of 12 inbreds, whilecluster III consisted of eight inbreds followed by cluster IV to X consisting of 1,2,7,3,6,9 and 7 inbreds respectively. Thegenotypes studied showed a wide range of variation for all the characters. Among the traits evaluated ,maximum genotypicand phenotypic coefficients of variation were observed for grain yield per plant followed by number of rows per cob andnumber of kernel per row. The estimates of heritability and genetic advance as per cent of mean was high for grain yield perplant, number of kernels per row and number of rows per cob. Grain yield per plant was positively and significantlycorrelated with cob weight, hundred kernel weight, number of kernel rows per cob and number of kernels per row. Pathcoefficient analysis further revealed that number of kernel rows per cob exhibited maximum positive direct effect followedby cob length. The significant association of grain yield per plant with hundred kernel weight and number of kernels perrow is due to positive indirect effects through number of kernel rows per cob, days to 50% silking, plant height and coblength.