Abstract:
Relationship between grain yield and its component
traits can improve the efficiency of
breeding programs by determining appropriate select
ion criteria. An investigation was
carried out on barnyard millet (
Echinochloa
spp.) global germplasm collection to
investigate the association among yield components
and their direct and indirect effects
on the grain yield of barnyard millet. The experime
nt was conducted in 2011 and 2012 in
augmented and alpha lattice design, respectively. T
he results of correlation coefficients
indicated that grain yield had high significant and
positive association with flag leaf width
and culm thickness during both years, whereas negat
ive association of grain yield was
observed with basal tillers and peduncle length. Si
mple path analysis indicated high direct
effects of panicle exertion, flag leaf sheath lengt
h, flag leaf width and days to maturity in
2011; and flag leaf width and raceme number in 2012
. However, these high direct
estimates were biased due to multicolinearity. Ther
efore, ontogeny based sequential path
analysis was used to establish the causal relations
hips determining grain yield in
barnyard millet. Based on the results over the year
s, culm thickness and raceme number
were found to be important traits for indirect sele
ction. The other important traits
suggested for inclusion in selection index were inf
lorescence length, plant height, flag leaf
length, inflorescence width and number of basal til
lers per plant.
Keywords:
Causal relationship, Correlation, Multicolinearity,
Predictor variables, Structural
Equation Modelling.
