Character association and path coefficient analysis in turmeric (Curcuma longa L.)

Abstract

Eight turmeric genotypes collected from different resources were evaluated for growth, yield and quality at College of Horticulture, Department of Spices and Plantation Crops, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu India. The data recorded on different characters were subjected to work out correlation and path analysis to investigate the association, direct and indirect contribution of various characters on fresh rhizome yield per plant. Rhizome yield exhibited highly significant positive association with weight of secondary rhizomes followed by number of secondary rhizomes, weight of mother rhizomes, primary rhizome length, number of tillers, mother rhizome length, weight of primary rhizome, number of mother rhizomes, leaf area both at genotypic and phenotypic level. The numbers of primary rhizomes were positive but not significant with all the characters. The study revealed that selection for more mother rhizome length registered the highest positive direct effect of number of leaves, number of mother rhizomes, secondary rhizome length, curcumin content, essential oil content, number of secondary rhizomes, plant height, and weight of mother rhizomes would be more effective for further improvement of rhizome yield in turmeric as they have maximum positive direct effect as well as highly significant positive association with fresh rhizome yield per plant.