Correlation and path coefficient analysis of quantitative characters in okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench)

One hundred germplasm lines of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) were evaluated in a randomized block design with two replications at the Vegetable Research Station, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, during kharif, 2008. Correlation and path coefficient analysis were carried out to study the character association and contribution, respectively, for thirteen quantitative characters, namely plant height (cm), number of branches per plant, internodal length (cm), days to 50% flowering, first flowering node, first fruiting node, fruit length (cm), fruit width (cm), fruit weight (g), total number of fruits per plant, number of marketable fruits per plant, total yield per plant (g) and marketable yield per plant (g) for the identification of appropriate selection indices. Phenotypic and genotypic correlation coefficient analysis revealed that plant height, fruit length, fruit width, fruit weight, total number of fruits per plant, number of marketable fruits per plant and total yield per plant had significant positive correlation, while number of branches per plant, internodal length, days to 50% flowering, first flowering node and first fruiting node had significant negative correlation with marketable yield per plant. Genotypic path coefficient analysis revealed that fruit weight, total number of fruits per plant and number of marketable fruits per plant had positively high direct effect on marketable pod yield per plant. Correlation and path coefficient analyses revealed that fruit weight, total number of fruits per plant and number of marketable fruits per plant not only had positively significant association with marketable pod yield per plant, but also had positively high direct effect on marketable pod yield per plant and are regarded as the main determinants of marketable pod yield per plant. The improvement in marketable pod yield per plant will be efficient, if the selection is based on fruit weight, total number of fruits per plant and number of marketable fruits per plant.