GENETIC VARIABILITY AND CORRELATION COEFFICIENT ANALYSIS OF SIX UPLAND RICE (ORYZA SATIVA X ORYZA GLABERRIMA) VARIETIES

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted using six upland rice varieties in2014 and 2015 at the Teaching and Research Farm, Federal University Oye, (Ikole campus) Ekiti State, Nigeria to determine genetic variability among the varieties through estimating heritability of yield and yield components, genetic advance, correlation coefficients of grain yield and yield contributing traits and proximate composition. The experimental size was 9.5m x 7m and each plot was 1m x 1m. Inter-row spacing between and within the hills was 20cm and 20cm. The plot spacing was 0.5m between plots and 1m within each replicate. The experiments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Ten competitive plants were selected from the middle row of plots for data collection. Data collected include plant height (cm), number of tillers per plant, number of days to 50% flowering, number of panicles/plant, panicle length (cm), panicle weight (g), number of grains /panicle, number of days to maturity, 1000-grain weight(g) and grain yield (t/ha). High heritability estimates were obtained for most of the observed characters in 2014, except for number of tillers, number of panicle/plant and panicle weight. These high heritability estimates indicated high heritable portion of variation and also indicated the presence of sufficient genetic variability for the traits which may facilitate selection. Low heritability obtained for panicle length and number of panicles per plant, indicated low heritable portion of variation and high environmental influence, thus a trait with low estimate of heritability cannot be classified as a transferable trait (inherited) among plant population. There are slight differences between the Phenotypic Coefficient of Variation (PCV) and Genotypic Coefficient of Variation (GCV) indicating minimum environmental influence and consequently, greater role of genetic factors in the expression of