Relationship of Yield and Yield Related Traits of Some Traditional Rice Cultivars in Sri Lanka as Described by Correlation Analysis

Aims: To understand the relationship between individual trait and yield of one hundred rice cultivars according to Pearson’s correlation coefficient.
Study Design: Completely randomized block design with four replicates. Twenty plants were evaluated in each replicate and eighty plants were evaluated in each cultivar in four replicates.
Place and Duration of Study: Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka in 2011-2013.
Methodology: Data were collected in 80 plants of four replicates on: plant height (cm), number of tillers per plant, number of fertile tillers per plant panicle length (cm), panicle weight (g), number of spikelets per panicle, number of fertile spikelets per panicle, 100 grain weight (g), days to maturity and yield per plant (g). Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated using SPSS.
Results: According to statistical analysis grain yield was significantly and highly correlated with number of fertile spikelets/panicle (r = 0.765), panicle weight (r = 0.727), number of spikelets/panicle (r = 0.638), filled grain percentage (r = 0.620), number of fertile tillers/plant (r = 0.611), number of tillers/plant (r = 0.575). Hundred grain weight (r = 0.336) and plant height (r = 0.278) were also correlated with at 1% significant level. None of the studied trait was negatively correlated with the yield.
Conclusion: Fertile spikelets per panicle, panicle weight, number of spikelet per panicle and filled grain percentage can be considered as good criteria for selection of rice cultivars suitable for breeding programs.