Character association and diversity analysis in desi cotton (Gossypium arboreum L.)

Abstract

The present Investigation was carried out to study the correlation, path coefficient and D2 analysis in desi cotton. The material was evaluated in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications during kharif 2019. In this experiment association analysis revealed significant positive correlation for seed cotton yield per plant with number of sympodia per plant and number of bolls per plant. The path analysis revealed that the number of sympodia per plant and number of bolls per plant exhibited high direct effect on seed cotton yield per plant. This revealed that for improvement of seed cotton yield through selection programme, more emphasis should be given to these traits. D2 analysis indicated wider genetic diversity among fifty genotypes of cotton which were grouped into four clusters. The maximum inter cluster distance (D2) was observed between cluster II and IV (21.32) followed by cluster III and IV (19.01).