Abstract

The knowledge of the nature of inter relationship prevalent between contributory traits and grain yield is a pre-requisite to planning a meaningful crop improvement program. Therefore, the present study is aimed to determine the traits having a greater association with yield utilizing the correlation and path analysis for different traits of sorghum genotypes. Sixtyfour sorghum genotypes including four standard checks were evaluated in an 8 ×8 simple lattice design at the Boko research site of Fedis Agricultural Research Center in the 2021 cropping season. Data on seventeen quantitative traits were collected. Correlation and path coefficient analyses were done by using SAS software. Grain yield showed positive and highly significant genotypic and phenotypic correlation with grain filling rate, leaf width, leaf area, panicle length, panicle width, head weight, thousand seed weight, and harvest index, and showed positive and significant association with biomass yield. This makes the work of plant breeders easy for improving both characters at once in the same direction. At genotypic and phenotypic levels, grain filling rate, harvest index, biomass yield, leaf area, thousand seed weight, and panicle weight had positive direct effects on grain yield. This implies any genetic improvement in those traits could improve grain yield. Leaf width, panicle length, and panicle width had positive genotypic correlation, but negative direct effects on grain yield. This implies that the indirect effects of other polygenic traits via those traits seem to be the cause of positive correlation and hence selection for yield should consider such important traits simultaneously.

Keywords: Correlation, Path coefficient analysis, Sorghum