Abstract:
^Breeding strategy in rice mainly depends on the degree of association among different
characters and its magnitude and nature of variation. Path analysis reveals the amount
of direct and indirect effect of the causal components on the effect component. In the
present study the effect of days to flowering on the yield and plant height were examined
using one hundred traditional rice cultivars. One hundred traditional rice cultivars were
transplanted according to the randomized complete block design with four replicates.
Each replicate consisted of 3 lines and twenty plants were included in to each line. Days
to flowering (DF), plant height (cm) (PH), and yield/plant (g) (YLD) were measured after
harvesting. Rice cultivars were grouped as 70, 80, 90, 100 DF. Correlation analysis was
done by IBM SPSS 20 statistical software and path analysis was done by IBM SPSS AMOS
statistical software. Path correlations were calculated to determine the total effect of DF
on the YLD and PH. The effect of days to flowering on the yield and plant height was
greatly varied with the days to flowering. The effect of days to flowering on the yield was
maximum when the days to flowering was around 80. Up to 90 days to flowering the
effect of days to flowering on the yield was positive but when the days to flowering was
more than 90, the effect of days to flowering on the yield was negative. Effect of days to
flowering on plant height was highest when the days to flowering was shortest.
