Correlation studies in African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) genotypes

A field investigation on correlation analysis was carriedout to understand the association between component characters and their relative contribution to xanthophyll yield to bring about a rational improvement in the desirable direction during diferent seasons. There were fifteen diverse genotypes of African marigold (viz., Yellow Treasure, Orange Treasure, First Lady, Orange Lady, Akki Chandhoo, Orange Double, Pusa Narangi Gianda, African marigold orange (AMO), Pusa Basanti Gianda, Raichur Local, Sierra Orange, Dharwad Local, Peruvean, Vanilla and Gokak Local) included in the study during three environments viz., kharif and rabi seasons of 200l and kharif 2002 for 13 characters related to growth, flowering and xanthophyll yield revealed that, the genotypic and phenotypic correlation of xanthophyll yield per hectare was found to be positively significant with petal meal yield per hectare, flower yield per plant, number of flower per plant, number of secondary branches, total dry matter production, leaf area, flower size, flower yield per hectare, xanthophyll content per kilogram of petal meal, plant height and number of petals per flower during kharif season. Whereas in rabi season also majority of them showed significant and positive association with Xanthophyll yield except days to 50 per cent flowering and ten fresh flower weight at both the levels.