Received: 9th Nov. 2018, Accepted: 18th Dec. 2018

Abstract

Considering the component traits is the important factor in selection for improvement of grain yield. Fifty-nine rice genotypes were field evaluated for yield traits in three consecutive crop seasons. Analysis of variance indicated the existence of significant differences among the genotypes for yield and its component characters during three seasons. The character association studies revealed that single plant grain yield had significant positive association with days to maturity, number of total tillers per plant, number of productive tillers per plant, panicle length, panicle weight, spikelet fertility, thousand grain weight, biomass per plant, biological yield per plant, harvest index and per day productivity indicating that these characters are very important for yield improvement and simultaneous selection of these characters will ultimately result in high yield. Path coefficient analysis revealed that number of filled grains per panicle exerted the highest positive direct effect on single plant grain yield followed by biological yield per plant, per day productivity, days to 50% flowering, thousand grain weight and plant height indicating that the selection for these characters was likely to bring about an overall improvement in grain yield.