Estimation of path coefficient analysis for some quantitative traits in Rice ( Oryza sativa L.) genotypes

A field experiment was conducted at the Al Mushkab Rice Research Station (AMRR), Najaf, Iraq, during the rice growing season of 2018-2019 in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) for the aim of estimating the path coefficient in 15 introduced and local genotypes of rice. The path coefficient was estimated for the number of days from planting to 50% flowering, the number of days from flowering to physiological maturity, plant height, leaf area index, number of branches/panicle, number of panicles / m2, number of grains/panicles, infertility percentage (sterility %), 1000 grains weight (gm), biological yield (kg. ha -1) and harvest index (HI %) with grain yield kg, ha. -1. The results of the study concluded that the trait of harvest index is an effective selection criterion for improving Rice grain yield because it achieved the highest overall positive effect, i.e., the highest positive genotypic correlation amounted to 0.761, and this trait also achieved a high direct positive effect on grain yield amounted to 0.83833.
 
Keywords: Rice, Genotypes, Path Coefficient, Harvest Index