Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis for Some Yield-Related Traits in F2Segregating Population of Eggplant

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important crop due to its nutritional value and production potential. Ten hybrids of eggplant procured from the Department of Horticulture, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, were planted at the College Orchard in May 2011 and evaluated for association between characters, direct and indirect effects of component traits on yield, and component characters and to identify desirable genotypes. Analysis of variance for each trait showed significant differences among the genotypes. Significant positive genotypic and phenotypic correlation was observed by number of fruit per plant and average fruit weight. An overall observation of path coefficient studies revealed that the direct contribution of number of branches per plant, average fruit weight, and number of fruit per plant was of higher magnitude on fruit yield. Direct selection may be executed considering these traits as the main selection criteria to reduce indirect effects of the other characters during the development of high-yielding eggplant varieties/hybrids.