Genetic Studies for Determination of Yield Components in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Varieties under Saline Conditions Pooled Over Seasons

The current study was conducted on 50 rice genotypes to evaluate the pooled correlation and path analysis of various biometrical traits viz., fifty percent flowering, plant height, panicle length, number of tillers per panicle, number of productive tillers per plant, number of grains per panicle, 100 seed weight with seed yield per plant of three seasons under salinity. The analysis of variance pooled over seasons revealed that all eight traits were highly significant thus indicating the existence of high genetic variability among the genotypes for all the traits and suggest the possibility of improving yield under saline condition. The pooled correlation analysis indicated that seed yield per plant has exhibited significant positive correlation with total number of tillers per plant, number of productive tillers per plant, panicle length and number of seeds per panicle. Thus, selection pressure could be applied for increasing the seed yield per plant under saline situation. From the path analysis studies, it was understood that the characters viz., number of productive tillers per plant, panicle length and number of seeds per panicle might be applied with selection pressure directly or indirectly to improve seed yield per plant and the characters studied for seed yield per plant is sufficient and sufficiently control the expression of seed yield in rice under saline situation due to their low residual effect.