Phenotypic correlation between yield components of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Abstract

This study aimed to identify which is the main component of grain yield of bean that that shows less sensitivity effect of the environment, and provides greater consistency in the expression of results when evaluated in different environments. Experimental data used in the analysis are derived from test of Cultivate and Use Value (VCU) conducted in Lages SC and Chapecó SC, South of Brazil. The
characters observed were the final stand of plants, number of pods per plant; number of grains per pod, seed mass (g 1000 seed^-1) and grain yield (kg ha^-1). The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design, with four replications. Estimates of phenotypic correlations were obtained by the method proposed by STEEL and TORRIE and partitioned into direct and indirect effects through path analysis. The inverse correlation was obtained for the characters of seed mass and grain number per pod, revealing that they should be selected together to obtain gains in the yield character. When the selection is aimed at grain production, for Chapecó-SC the characteristic of seed mass can be used, where as in Lages-SC the character number of grains per pod is more appropriate. Characters seed mass and number of vegetable per pod showed high stability during the unfolding of the path coefficients, showing that they can be used in selecting genotypes with higher grain yield in different environments.