Correlation and Path Analysis of Cotton Yield Characters

Using chromosome segment substitution lines as materials,the correlation and path analysis on yield characters and agronomic characters of cotton were conducted.The results showed that the lint yield significantly positively correlated with boll number per plant(r=0.937**),single boll weight(r=0.327**),plant height(r=0.275**) and number of fruit branches(r=0.265**),which indicated that the increase of them was the base for increasing lint yield.The path analysis showed that the direct effect of boll number per plant was the highest on lint yield with the path coefficient as 0.8960,which was followed by single boll weight with the path coefficient as 0.3729.In conclusion,the middle-high plant height,lower initial fruit branch,more fruit branches,more bolls and larger boll size should be payed more attention to during high-yielding cotton breeding.