Affiliations 

  • 1 Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 3 Genetics and Molecular Breeding, Faculty Of Technical and Vocational Studies, Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI), 35900, Tanjong Malim Perak, Malaysia
J Sci Food Agric, 2017 Mar;97(4):1164-1171.
PMID: 27290898 DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.7843

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Studies on genotypic and phenotypic correlations among characters of crop plants are useful in planning, evaluating and setting selection criteria for the desired characters in a breeding program. The present study aimed to estimate the phenotypic correlation coefficients among yield and yield attributed characters and to work out the direct and indirect effects of yield-related characters on yield per plant using path coefficient analysis. Twenty-six genotypes of chili pepper were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications.

RESULTS: Yield per plant showed positive and highly significant (P ≤ 0.01) correlations with most of the characters studied at both the phenotypic and genotypic levels. By contrast, disease incidence and days to flowering showed a significant negative association with yield. Fruit weight and number of fruits exerted positive direct effect on yield and also had a positive and significant (P ≤ 0.01) correlation with yield per plant. However, fruit length showed a low negative direct effect with a strong and positive indirect effect through fruit weight on yield and had a positive and significant association with yield.

CONCLUSION: Longer fruits, heavy fruits and a high number of fruits are variables that are related to higher yields of chili pepper under tropical conditions and hence could be used as a reliable indicator in indirect selection for yield. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.