Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Early Access

Effect of sowing dates on genetic variability, correlation and path analysis in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under Ranchi conditions

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.10497
Submitted
12 July 2025
Published
20-11-2025
Versions

Abstract

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a vital staple crop, yet global climate change is expected to reduce its yield by about 6 % for every 1 °C rise in temperature. As genetic parameters that guide breeding strategies can vary under different environmental conditions, multi-environmental evaluation is essential. During the Rabi season of 2019-20, an experiment was conducted at the research farm of Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi to evaluate 28 wheat genotypes under three sowing conditions: timely sown, late sown and very late sown. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), heritability and genetic advance estimates, correlation analysis and path coefficient analysis. The analysis of variance revealed significant genetic variability among genotypes for most traits. Phenotypic variance exceeded genotypic variance for all traits, reflecting the environmental influence. However, high heritability coupled with high genetic advance for 1000-seed weight, number of effective tillers, grains per spike and grain yield per plant indicated the predominance of additive gene action and strong genetic control. Grain yield showed positive and significant associations with biological yield, effective tillers, plant height and grains per spike, which were further confirmed by path analysis as major contributors to yield. These results imply that simultaneous selection for these key traits can effectively improve grain yield across variable sowing conditions, thereby providing a robust basis for developing climate-resilient wheat breeding strategies.

References

  1. 1. Senapati N, Stratonovitch P, Paul MJ, Semenov MA. Drought tolerance during reproductive development is important for increasing wheat yield potential under climate change in Europe. J Exp Bot. 2019;70(9):2549–60. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ery226
  2. 2. Hunter MC, Smith RG, Schipanski ME, Atwood LW, Mortensen DA. Agriculture in 2050: Recalibrating targets for sustainable intensification. BioScience. 2017;67(4):386–91. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix010
  3. 3. Hennessy K, Fawcett R, Kirono D, Mpelasoka F, Jones D, Bathols J, et al. An assessment of the impact of climate change on the nature and frequency of exceptional climatic events. Canberra: Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO; 2008.
  4. 4. Abbas G, Younis H, Naz S, Fatima Z, Hussain S, Ahmed M, et al. Effect of planting dates on agronomic crop production. Agron Crops: Vol 1. Prod Technol. 2019:131–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9151-5_8
  5. 5. Yashavantha Kumar KJ, Baviskar VS, Navathe S, Patil RM, Bagwan JH, Bankar DN, et al. Impact of heat and drought stress on phenological development and yield in bread wheat. Plant Physiol Rep. 2021;26(4):357–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40502-021-00586-0
  6. 6. Joshi MA, Faridullah S, Kumar A. Effect of heat stress on crop phenology, yield and seed quality attributes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). J Agrometeorol. 2016;18(2):206–12. https://doi.org/10.54386/jam.v18i2.937
  7. 7. Olivera P, Newcomb M, Szabo LJ, Rouse MN, Johnson J, Gale S, et al. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of race TKTTF of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici that caused a wheat stem rust epidemic in southern Ethiopia in 2013–14. Phytopathology. 2015;105(7):917–28. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-11-14-0302
  8. 8. Khan NU, Qureshi MI, Nisar R, Zubair M, Mohibullah M, Shehzad A, et al. Evaluation of wheat genotypes for genetic variability, genetic potential and yield-related attributes in agro-climatic conditions of Dera Ismail Khan. Int J Agric Sustain Dev. 2025;7(2):143–54.
  9. 9. Gaur AK, Verma SK, Panwar RK. Estimation of genetic variability and character association for development of selection criteria in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millspaugh). Int J Chem Stud. 2020;8(2):391–4. https://doi.org/10.22271/chemi.2020.v8.i2f.8800
  10. 10. Ali Y, Atta BM, Akhter J, Monneveux P, Lateef Z. Genetic variability, association and diversity studies in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) germplasm. Pak J Bot. 2008;40(5):2087–97.
  11. 11. Al Jibouri HA, Miller PA, Robinson HF. Genotypic and environmental variances and covariances in an upland cotton cross of interspecific origin. Agron J. 1958;50(10):633–6. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1958.00021962005000100020x
  12. 12. Burton GW, DeVane EH. Estimating heritability in tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) from replicated clonal material. Agron J. 1953;45(10):478–81. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1953.00021962004500100005x
  13. 13. Johnson HW, Robinson HF, Comstock RE. Genotypic and phenotypic correlations in soybeans and their implications in selection. Agron J. 1955;47(10):477–83. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1955.00021962004700100008x
  14. 14. Robinson HF, Comstock RE, Harvey PH. Genotypic and phenotypic correlations in wheat and their implications in selection. Agron J. 1951;43(6):282–7. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1951.00021962004300060006x
  15. 15. Dewey DR, Lu KH. A correlation and path coefficient analysis of components of crested wheatgrass seed production. Agron J. 1959;51(9):515–8. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1959.00021962005100090002x
  16. 16. Lazarod R. Coefficients for determining leaf area in certain agricultural crops. Rast Nauski (Safia). 1965;2(2):27–37.
  17. 17. Bhushan B, Gaurav SS, Kumar R, Pal R. Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). J Ecol Environ Sci. 2013;31(2):405–7.
  18. 18. Tabassum, Kumar A, Kumar A, Pangti L, Joshi A. Evaluation of genetic variability in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes. Bull Environ Pharmacol Life Sci. 2017;6(3):309–13. https://doi.org/10.31783/elsr.2021.711420
  19. 19. Rajput RS. Correlation, path analysis, heritability and genetic advance for morpho-physiological character on bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). J Pharmacogn Phytochem. 2018;7(2):107–12.
  20. 20. Bhanu AN, Arun B, Mishra VK. Genetic variability, heritability and correlation study of physiological and yield traits in relation to heat tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Biomed J Sci Tech Res. 2018;2(1):2112–6. https://doi.org/10.26717/BJSTR.2018.02.000635
  21. 21. Thapa RS, Sharma PK, Pratap D, Singh T, Kumar A. Assessment of genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes under normal and heat stress environment. Indian J Agric Res. 2019;53(1):51–6. https://doi.org/10.18805/IJARe.A-5108
  22. 22. Hossain MM, Azad MA, Alam MS, Eaton TE. Estimation of variability, heritability and genetic advance for phenological, physiological and yield contributing attributes in wheat genotypes under heat stress condition. Am J Plant Sci. 2021;12(4):586. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2021.124039
  23. 23. Tilahun B, Habtamu T, Letta T. Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance among wheat genotypes at Southeastern Ethiopia. Agric For Fish. 2020;9(4):128–34. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20200904.15
  24. 24. Nukasani V, Potdukhe NR, Bharad S, Deshmukh S, Shinde SM. Genetic variability, correlation and path analysis in wheat. J Wheat Res. 2013;5(2):48–51.
  25. 25. Singh B, Upadhyay PK. Genetic variability, correlation and path analysis in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Indian Res J Genet Biotechnol. 2013;5(3):197–202.
  26. 26. Kumar D, Rana V, Rana A, Guleria P. Genetic variability, correlation and path analysis studies for grain yield and morpho-physiological traits under moisture-stress conditions in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under north-western Himalayan conditions. J Cereal Res. 2023;15(1):92–102. https://doi.org/10.25174/2582-2675/2023/124000
  27. 27. Mishra SK, Surin SS, Verma N, Bhargaw PK, Kumari M, Mishra DK. Studies on genetic variability, correlation and path coefficient analysis for yield and yield contributing traits in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). J Exp Agric Int. 2024;46(6):389–97. https://doi.org/10.9734/jeai/2024/v46i62490
  28. 28. Ehdaie B, Waines JG. Genetic variation, heritability and path-analysis in landraces of bread wheat from southwestern Iran. Euphytica. 1989;41:183–90. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/euph.1989.41.183
  29. 29. Chaudhary V, Kumar S, Singh S, Prasad J, Jeena AS, Upreti MC. Variability, character association and path analysis in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). J Pharmacogn Phytochem. 2020;9(3):1859–63. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/jpp.2020.9.3.1859
  30. 30. Aycicek M, Yildirim T. Path coefficient analysis of yield and yield components in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes. Pak J Bot. 2006;38(2):417. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/pjb.2006.38.2.417
  31. 31. Kashif MU, Khaliq IH. Heritability, correlation and path coefficient analysis for some metric traits in wheat. Int J Agric Biol. 2004;6(1):138–42.
  32. 32. Tambe A, Mehta DR, Chovatia VP, Bhatiya VJ. Genetic variability, character association and path coefficient analysis in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). Electron J Plant Breed. 2013;4(4):1303–8. https://doi.org/10.5555/20143038646
  33. 33. Baye A, Berihun B, Bantayehu M, Derebe B. Genotypic and phenotypic correlation and path coefficient analysis for yield and yield related traits in advanced bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) lines. Cogent Food Agric. 2020;6(1):1752603. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2020.1752603
  34. 34. Abdipour M, Ebrahimi M, Izadi Darbandi A, Mastrangelo AM, Najafian G, Arshad Y, Mirniyam G. Association between grain size and shape and quality traits, and path analysis of thousand grain weight in Iranian bread wheat landraces from different geographic regions. Not Bot Horti Agrobo Cluj Napoca. 2016;44(1):228–36. https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha44110256
  35. 35. Nayak R, Singh VK, Singh AK, Singh PK. Genetic variability, character association and path analysis of rice genotypes. Ann Plant Soil Res. 2016;18(2):161–4.
  36. 36. Gudeta M, Tesso B, Geleta N. Genetic variation, genotypic and phenotypic correlation, heritability, and path coefficient analysis of yield and yield-related traits in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties at Gitilo Dale, Western Ethiopia. Agrosyst Geosci Environ. 2025;8(2):e70115. https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.70115
  37. 37. Akter A, Hasan MJ, Latif MA, Kulsum MU, Biswas PL, Rahman MH, et al. Genetic variability, heritability, correlation and path coefficient studies for yield and yield components of some promising rice hybrids. Bangladesh Rice J. 2019;23(2):27–34. https://doi.org/10.3329/brj.v23i2.48245
  38. 38. Sharma A, Rana V, Basandrai D, Kumar S, Kumar N, Mohapatra A, et al. Genetic variability and correlation studies based on diverse wheat panel for grain yield and related attributes under north western Himalayan conditions. Vegetos. 2025;1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-025-01400-0
  39. 39. KC B, Pandit R, Maharjan B, Adhikari NR, Poudel MR, Thapa DB, et al. Genetic parameters, correlation, and multivariate analysis of yield and yield components in 30 promising wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes. Int J Agron. 2025;2025:3774228. https://doi.org/10.1155/ioa/3774228
  40. 40. Das S, Karak C, Roy S. Genetic variability, correlation and path analysis studies in cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.]. Int J Econ Plants. 2020;7(3):123–8. https://doi.org/10.23910/2/2020.0377
  41. 41. Kashif MU, Hammad, Khaliq IH, San. Heritability, correlation and path coefficient analysis for some metric traits in wheat. Int J Agric Biol. 2004;6(1):138–42.
  42. 42. Tolwani S, Sarsaiya V, Patidar T, Singh S, Chauhan S. Correlation and path coefficient analysis in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under different growing conditions. Int J Adv Biochem Res. 2025;9(6):563–76. https://doi.org/10.33545/26174693.2025.v9.i6g.4577

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.