Correlation and path coefficient analysis for important plant attributes of spring wheat under normal and drought stress conditions

A comparative study was conducted in drought and normally irrigated conditions, in which 25 genotypes of wheat were evaluated for various morphological traits involving plant height, canopy temperature, flag leaf area, spike length, number of spikelets per spike, number of grains per spike, grain weight per spike, 1000-grain weight and grain yield per hectare and relative water contents. A duplicated randomized complete block design was used in the experimental area of the Wheat Research Institute, AARI, Faisalabad. Path coefficient and correlation for above-mentioned traits in both environments estimated and results revealed that spike length, spike density and 1000-grain weight were the main contributor in yield in both concerned environments. Maximum yield was recorded for the genotype V-11164 in normal and V-11168 in drought conditions whereas most stable genotype was V-11168 for yield in drought conditions. In normal conditions maximum correlation was recorded for number of grains per spike followed by grain weight per spike whereas number of grains per spike was also have top most value of correlation in drought environment. Keywords Wheat. Correlation and Path coefficient. Morphological Traits.