Genetic Variability, Path Coefficient, and Multivariate Analysis of Seed Yield and its Associated Traits in Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

A total of seventy-three sunflower genotypes were used for studying the variability parameters. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences among genotypes for all eight quantitative characters. Among the germplasm entries, high PCV and GCV were observed for head diameter and hundred seed weight. Present experiment revealed the phenotypic coefficient of variance was noticeably greater than the genotypic coefficient of variance, demonstrating the importance of environmental influences on the traits studied. Similarly, strong heritability and high genetic advance as a percentage of the mean were found for plant height, head diameter, hundred seed weight and seed yield per plant. Path coefficient analysis showed days to maturity, head diameter, hundred seed weight and oil content had a direct positive effect on seed yield per plant. Divergence analysis using principal component analysis (PCA) has been performed to effective determination of genetically distant parents, which could be used for hybridization programme. The PCA analysis generated 8 PCs and out of which, 3 PCs had more than one eigen value, cumulatively showing about 73.85 % of the total variation. The Biplot of the first two PCs shows the variation among individuals and the relation between traits studied.