Analysis of Correlation and Path Co-efficient between Yield and Quality Traits in Lowland Rice of Nagaland

Nagaland is among north east states of India that has a great potential of rice production. The people have great affinity for their own local rice and take delight in cultivation of their own indigenous cultivars. The great diversity that existed within this region can be useful in selecting prominent cultivars for further improvement of yield and quality traits as these traits has become the main focus of rice breeder across the country. Not only for the people of Nagaland, discovery of prominent genotypes can be further useful for the neighbouring region of the state since the climatic condition of the surroundings are somewhat similar. Considering the influence of good quality rice on marketing and the need of high yielding rice variety to meet global demand of rice this research was taken up in ICAR-RC, NEH, Medziphema, Nagaland during Kharif 2020-2021 to evaluate the inter-relationship and association of quality and yield traits in 81 rice genotypes collected from various parts of Nagaland. Each genotype was evaluated for important yield and quality parameters. After careful analysis, the general phenotypic correlation coefficient was slightly higher than the corresponding genotypic coefficient of correlation. A significant positive correlation with grain yield was observed in no. of filled grains per panicle, days to 50% flowering, no. of panicles per plant and days to maturity. A positive association between yield traits and quality parameters were also observed. No. of filled grains per panicle, no. of panicles per plant and 1000 grains weight were detected to have high direct effect on grains yield per plant. The results of this investigation could be used for estimating direct of selection for improvement of yield and quality traits in rice breeding program.