Association of Traits and Path Coefficient Analysis for Yield and Its Components in Soybean (Glycine max L.) genotypes

The experiment was conducted to study and evaluate correlation and path coefficient analysis among various traits and their direct as well as indirect contributions to yield, with the objective of identifying key characters that can serve as effective selection criteria for genetic improvement in Soybean. Genotypes were sown in Randomized Block Design with three replications at ZARS, Ganeshkhind, Pune, during kharif, 2024. Forty genotypes were evaluated for twelve different characters, showed high significance for days to 50 per cent flowering, days to maturity, plant height, plant spread, primary branches per plant, secondary branches per plant, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100-seed weight, protein content, oil content and seed yield per plant. All the characters had positive significant correlation with seed yield per plant except 100-seed weight, protein content and oil content were negatively correlated with seed yield. Number of pods per plant had the highest positive direct effect on seed yield followed by 100-seed weight, seeds per pod, oil content, plant height, primary branches per plant, secondary branches per plant and days to 50 per cent flowering which can be used for improving seed yield in soybean. Remaining characters such as plant spread, protein content and days to maturity showed negative direct effect with the seed yield.