Character association and path analysis for yield improvement in fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.)

A total of 18 genotypes of the fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) were evaluated for estimation of correlation and path analysis for yield improvement during Rabi season of 2016-17 at Mandor, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Results indicated that the variation among genotypes was highest for biological yield (54.3-88.3 q ha-1), followed by seed yield (15.8-25.2 q ha-1). The analysis of genotypic (GC) and phenotypic correlations (PC) indicated that the seed yield per ha was significantly and positively correlated with seed yield per plant (GC r=0.978**; PC r=0.842**), number of seeds per umbel (GC r= 0.752**, PC r=0.505*) and number of umbels per plant (GC r=0.543*). Path coefficient analysis suggested that the highest positive direct effect on seed yield per ha was exerted by biological yield per ha (0.953) followed by the number of umbels per plant (0.484), harvest index (0.463), number of seeds per umbel (0.387), 1000-seed weight (0.289), oil content (0.150), days to maturity (0.102) and the number of umbellets per umbel (0.070). Therefore, it is inferred that for initiating breeding programmes of fennel, the primary emphasis should be given for selecting characters having a positive and higher magnitude of correlation and have direct effects on characters associated with higher yield.