Correlation and path analysis in grain amaranth (Amaranthus spp.)

Abstract

Amaranthus spp. are being cultivated since centuries for leafy vegetable [1] as well. as important subsidiary food grain crop [2] under varied agro climatic conditions ranging from tropical to temperate zones. To exploit its potentiality for grain, several genetic improvement techniques have been done. Grain yield being the most important and polygenically controlled complex character, is also governed by many physiological changes within the plant and influenced by many environmental factors in which the plant is grown, hence it is not an efficient character for selection. Interrelationship among direct and indirect influence of component characters of yield is important in predicting the correlated response to directional selection and in the detection of traits as useful markers. Report on this aspect is scanty in this crop [3,4] hence, the present study was conducted to elucidate the genetic association among different agronomic traits in grain amaranth.