Study on character association and path analysis in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.)

Correlation coefficient analysis in 35 varieties of brinjal was carried out at Vegetable Research Block, College of Horticulture, SKLTSHU, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during Rabi, 2015-16. The results revealed that the association of days to first flowering, days to 50% flowering, number of flower clusters per plant, number of flowers per cluster, number of fruits per cluster, number of fruits per plant, days to last harvest, fruit length, fruit width, average fruit weight and total phenol content with fruit yield and among themselves was positive and highly significant and these traits were identified as yield components. The genetic improvement of fruit yield thus can be obtained by direct selection of these yield components. Path coefficient analysis revealed that the characters viz., number of fruits per cluster, number of fruits per plant, days to last harvest, average fruit weight had moderate to high positive direct effect and significant correlation values on fruit yield. Thus, the fruit yield per plant can be improved by making selection of these characters during yield improvement programme.