Genetic parameters, inter-relationship and path-coefficient analysis in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill)

An experiment was conducted to study the components of phenotypic variation for yield and yield contributing characters and relationship between them in 21 genotypes of soybean. Significant variations were observed among the genotypes for all the characters studied. The highest genotypic and phenotypic co-efficient of variation was observed in pod/plant followed by leaf area, yield/plant, 100 seed weight and yield/plant. High heritability (broad sense) was observed for all the characters except seeds/pod. Higher level of heritability, genetic advance and genetic advance in percentage of mean was found in leaf area, plant height and pods/plant. In most of the cases genotypic correlations were higher than the phenotypic ones. Pods/plant, seeds/pod and 100 seed weight showed significant and positive correlation with yield/plant at phenotypic level. The number of pods/plant had higher direct effects on yield. These results suggest that number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod and 100 seed weight were the most important characters in yield determination and could be used for future yield improvement programmes in soybean