CHARACTER ASSOCIATION IN WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L. EM. THELL.)

Abstract

The grain yield of a crop is a complex character and is the final product of actions and interactions of various characters. It is well known that no independent gene system is present for grain yield per se, and hence understanding relationships among yield and its components is of paramount importance [1]. Therefore, a successful selection programme depends not only on the information on association among various yield component characters but also on the information of their association with grain yield. In the past, several studies have been conducted to study the correlation of different characters with yield in wheat by different workers [2-8]. The experimental material for these studies comprised either of the strains/varieties of wheat [3-5] or progenies resulting from various crosses [6-8]. In general, tillers/plant, spikes/plant, grain weight and grains/spike were found to be positively correlated with grain yield. The present study on correlations was undertaken to understand the nature of relationships of important characters with grain yield in semi-dwarf wheats.