Correlation and path coefficient analysis in vegetable Amaranthus (Amaranthus tricolor L.)

Abstract

In the present study, correlation and path coefficient analysis with quantitative and qualitative characters in amaranthus. The experiment was comprised of twenty three genotypes of amaranthus, laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications was carried out at Pt. KLS College of Horticulture and Research Station, Rajnandgaon, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G.) during kharif season 2015-16. Analysis of variance revealed that mean sum of squares due to genotypes was highly significant for all characters. Observations were recorded for the characters viz., plant height, number of branch per plant, Stem base diameter, number of leaves per plant, leaf length, leaf width, Leaf area, petiole length, Plant fresh weight, Fresh leaf weight, Fresh stem weight, Dry leaf weight, Dry stem weight, Dry plant weight, Foliage yield (kg/plot), Fe, K, Zn, Fiber, Chlorophyll a, Chlorophyll b, Total Chlorophyll, TSS, and Dry matter percentage. Correlation coefficient correlation studies revealed that leaf yield kg per plot showed positive and significant correlation with number of leaves per plant and fresh stem weight for quantitative characters. Chlorophyll a showed significant positive correlation with Total Chlorophyll at both phenotypic and genotypic levels. It also showed significant negative correlation with Chlorophyll b at genotypic level only. Chlorophyll b showed significant positive correlation with Total Chlorophyll at both phenotypic and genotypic levels. Path coefficient analysis revealed that fresh stem weight (1.100) and number of leaves per plant(0.014) showed the highest positive direct effect on leaf yield, whereas direct negative effect on leaf yield viz. Plant height (-0.071) for quantitative characters.