GENETIC VARIABILITY, CORRELATION AND PATH COEFFICIENT STUDIES IN GARLIC (Allium sativum L.)

Analysis of variance showed significant variability for all the nine characters studied. The results of the present study recorded the maximum value of GCV and PCV for clove weight, number of cloves per bulb, clove diameter. High heritability along with high genetic advance was observed for plant height, bulb weight and number of cloves per bulb which govern that these characters are controlled by additive gene effects. Bulb weight was positively and significantly correlated with bulb equatorial diameter, clove weight, clove length, bulb polar diameter, plant height at both genotypic and phenotypic level. Path coefficient studies indicated that bulb polar diameter, bulb equatorial diameter and number of cloves per bulb had greater direct influence on bulb weight, and hence selection of genotype on basis of these characters may be effective for improvement of yield.