Genetic parameters, character association and path analysis for fruit yield and its component characters in guava (Psidium guajava L.)

Abstract

The present investigation was conducted to estimate genetic parameters, correlations and path coefficients from different traits of nine genotypes in guava. The genotypes exhibited a wide range of variability for all the characters studied. The high estimates of GCV and PCV were recorded for fruit yield per plant, fruit weight, plant height, petiole size, acidity and number of seeds per fruit while low GCV and PCV were expressed by E-W plant spread, leaf length, fruit breadth and N-S plant spread. Heritability estimates revealed that all the characters under study ranged from 99.97 for leaf breadth to 61.99 for TSS. Genetic advance as percent of mean varied from 15.13 (fruit breadth) to 70.73 (number of seeds per fruit). High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as percent of mean was recorded for fruit yield, plant height, fruit weight, acidity and number of seeds per fruit indicating that these traits are under the control of additive gene action and phenotypic selection for their improvement will be effective. Significant positive association of fruit weight with fruit length (0.6134) and fruit breadth (0.7622)indicated the importance of these characters during selection for high yielding genotypes in future breeding programs.

Keywords

• correlation
• gcv
• genetic advance
• guava
• heritability
• path analysis
• pcv