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Twenty five fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) genotypes were grown at two locations (Abeokuta and Akure) in a randomized complete block design with three replications during the rainy season of year 2013 to evaluate genotypic and phenotypic character association and path analysis of marketable leaf yield. The mean squares of the combined analysis of variance revealed significant genotypes, locations and genotype x environment (location) interactions (GEI) on most of the characters. Genotypic correlation coefficients were higher than phenotypic correlation coefficients in most cases. Vine length, number of leaves, number of branches, leaf fresh weight, vine fresh weight and vine girth correlated positively (genotypic and phenotypic) with marketable leaf yield in both locations. Path analysis indicated that vine length, leaf area and leaf width imparted significant direct influence on marketable leaf yield and hence these traits could be used as selection criteria for improved marketable leaf yield. Significant GEI caused differences in the results of correlation and path analyses obtained across the two locations. Therefore, selection based on result of a single location or single season trial could be misleading because of the effect of GEI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The critical assessment of the nature and magnitude of variability in the available germplasm and finding out associations among yield and its contributing characters are the pre-requisites to any breeding program. Keeping these points in view, genetic variability and interrelationship among 10 quantitative characters were studied in a set of 27 lentil genotypes during two growing seasons 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. The field experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design and conducted at the research farm, Scientific Agricultural Research Center of Dara'a, GCSAR, Syria. The results showed that sufficient variability was present among the genotypes for all the characters studied. The component of genotypic variance of characters like number of primary branches per plant, number of pods per plant, 100-seed weight, biological yield, harvest index, and seed yield was higher than the environmental variance component; indicating that the genotypic component was the major contributor to total or phenotypic variance. Generally, the values of PCV were higher than the corresponding ones of GCV for all the characters, but in many cases, both values differed only slightly. Characters like number of primary branches per plant, number of pods per plant, biological yield and seed yield have recorded accompanied high estimates of GCV, heritability and genetic advance over character mean. The seed yield showed positive and highly significant associations with number of primary branches per plant and biological yield at the both genotypic and phenotypic levels. The highest positive direct effects have belonged to number of primary branches per plant followed by plant height and days to 50 % flowering; suggesting the importance of these characters and necessity of adoption them as selection criteria for seed yield improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]