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Wheat Information Service
Number 73: 25-29 (1991)


Interrelationship among grain yield and its economic characters in wheat, Triticum aestivum L.

S. M. Qayyum, A. H. Ansari, A. A. Mirza*

Department of Agronomy, S. A. U., Tandojam, Pakistan
* Department of Statistics, S. U. Jamshoro, Pakistan


The knowledge about the association of factors influencing yield is a pre-requisite for designing an effective plant breeding programme (Worley et al 1976). The information about the simple correlation of agronomic and morphological characters with yield is helpful in the identification of the components of this character. Keeping the above facts in view and experiment was performed to assess the interrelationship among yield and its components in wheat, under agro-ecological conditions of Tandojam.


Materials and methods

To assess the interrelationship among yield and its components in wheat, an experiment was conducted at Agronomy Experimental Fields, A. R. I. Tandojam during winter 1987-88. Six cultivars of bread wheat (M-141, M-154, TJ-83, Pavon, Pak-70 and Blue Silver) were grown in four replicated complete randomized block design at a rate of 125kg seeds per ha in a net plot area of 5 x 3m, maintaining 30cm row distance. A basal fertilizer was applied with dose of 100kg N and 70kg P2O5 per ha prior to sowing in the form of urea and single super phosphate. All the required cultural operations were adopted uniformly in all the plots throughout the growing period according to the crop requirements. At maturity 12 plants were randomly selected from each variety. The plant population was recorded per m2 from each plot. The following characters were measured; plant population/m2, days to flag leaf, days to ear heading, plant height, number of tillers/plant, spikelets/spike, spike length, number of kernels/spike, kernel weight/spike and grain yield/plant.

Simple and multiple correlation and regression coefficients were calculated, following Steel and Torrie (1980).


Results and discussion

Simple correlation among yield and its components (
Table 1) showed that plant population/m2 had strong negative association with number of tillers/plant, indicating that population/m2 decreased the tillering capacity/plant. Similarly spike length had negative significant correlation with plant population/m2. This relation shows that increasing plant population/m2 reduced the length of spike. Yield/plant revealed high negative relationship with plant population/m2 indicating that increasing plant stand/m2 reduced the single plant yield.

These results suggest that plant population can possibly be used as yield predictor. These results are in agreement with those of Breggs and Aytenfisu (1980).

Days to flag leaf had strong and positive correlation with days to ear heading. However, it did not have any correlation with plant height, kernels/spike, kernel weight/spike and yield, respectively. Days to ear heading did not have any association with plant height, number of tillers/plant, number of spikelets/spike, spike length, number of kernels/spike, kernel weight/spike and yield/plant, respectively. These relationship explain that days to flag leaf and car heading are not sure signs in improving yield.

Plant height had highly significant and positive association with number of kernels/spike showing that taller plants produced greater number of kernels/spike. The correlations between plant height and weight of kernels/spike, and yield/plant were positive and significant. These high magnitude of correlations show that plant height can be used in selection criteria. It was noted that number of tillers/plant, number of spikelets/spike and spike length had no association with plant height.

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