Studies on variability, correlation and path analysis in garden pea (Pisum sativum L.) for pod yield and its related traits under natural farming conditions

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the eleven genotypes of garden pea for different horticultural traits under natural farming conditions. The analysis of variance showed significant differences among the genotypes. Magnitude of PCV was higher than the corresponding GCV for all the traits studied. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for number of seeds per pod indicating that trait is governed by additive gene effects and selection may be effective. Correlation studies revealed that pod yield per plant exhibit positive and significant association with all the traits under study both at genotypic and phenotypic levels. In path coefficient studies, number of pods per plant exhibit maximum positive direct effect on pod yield per plant followed by pod length, number of seeds per pod, shelling percentage, days to 50 per cent flowering and days to first picking at genotypic level and number of pods per plant followed by number of seeds per pod, pod length, shelling percentage and days to first picking at phenotypic level. Therefore, these traits can be considered as the most reliable selection indices.