Correlation and path analysis studies in soybean [(Glycine max (L.) Merrill]

Abstract

Soybean is an important oilseed crop also known as the ‘miracle bean or the golden bean’ due to its numerous industrial, nutritional, and agricultural applications. In present investigation Forty-two genotypes of soybean were evaluated for thirteen quantitative characters. The field trial was taken at Botany Section Farm, College of Agriculture, Dhule during Kharif 2023. Trial was conducted using RBD design with two replications. Thirteen characters were recorded viz., days to 50 per cent flowering, days to maturity, plant height, pod bearing height, number of primary branches, number of pods per plant, pod length, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight, protein content, oil content, seed shattering percentage and seed yield per plant. At both the genotypic and phenotypic levels, traits such as days to maturity, plant height, number of primary branches per plant, number of pods per plant, pod length and 100 seed weight showed a significant and positive correlation with seed yield per plant. The strongest correlation at the genotypic and phenotypic level was found between number of pods per plant and seed yield per plant, which was followed by the pod length and 100 seed weight. According to the genotypic path coefficient analysis, the traits like number of pods per plant, 100 seeds weight, number of seeds per pod, number of primary branches per plant, protein content and pod length had a positive direct effect on the seed yield per plant. So, choosing these traits directly can result in an increase in crop output. The characteristics days to maturity, plant height, 100 seed weight, number of primary branches per plant, pod bearing height and days to 50 per cent flowering had showed a significant indirect impact on seed yield per plant via, number of pods per plant.