Genetic variability, correlation and path analysis in fenugreek grown under sub-humid sub-tropical red lateritic belt of Eastern India

Thirty genotypes of fenugreek were grown during two consecutive winter seasons in sub-humid sub-tropical red lateritic belt of eastern India. Genetic variability, correlation and path coefficients were studied on eight agronomic characters, viz., plant height, days to flowering, branches per plant, pods per plant, pod length, seeds per pod, test weight and seed yield per plant. Analysis of variance pooled over the seasons revealed that the mean squares due to genotypes for all the characters studied were highly significant indicating presence of genetic variation in the test population. The estimates of genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation were high for branches per plant, moderate for plant height and test weight, and low for days to flowering and pod length. Heritability estimates were high for plant height, days to flowering, branches per plant and test weight and low for pod number, pod length, seeds per pod and seed yield The results of phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variability, heritability and genetic advance revealed that improvement through selection for branches per plant, pods per plant and test weight would be effective in this population. Seed yield was positively and significantly correlated with plant height, branch number, pods per plant and seeds per pod at both genotypic and phenotypic levels indicating the importance of these characters for seed yield. The results of path analysis indicated that selection for tall plant height, late flowering with reasonable branch number, high number of seeds per pod and pods per plant are important which will help improve seed yield in this population.