Association and Divergence Studies for Yield and Its Attributing Traits in Upland Cotton

The study was executed during Kharif, 2022 to evaluate the character association and geneticvariability of yield and its associated traits in cotton. Correlation studies revealed that seed cottonyield exhibited a substantial positive kinship with the number of bolls per plant, the number of sympodialbranches per plant, seed index, ginning out turn (GOT), and lint yield.The first three principalcomponents (PCs) out of the 12 PCs displayed eigen values more than one and exhibited maximumshare to total variability. The attributes that contributed a maximum portion to the total divergenceincluded the number of sympodia per plant, lint yield, seed cotton yield, ginning outturn percent, andnumber of bolls per plant. The traits, number of bolls per plant, number of sympodia per plant, seedindex, ginning out turn, and lint yield can be utilized for direct selection for further heterosis breeding.Based on D2 analysis the lines, L 2251 and L 2252 were found divergent and may be used in furtherheterosis breeding programs.