Genetic variability and correlation studies for morphological, yield and yield attributes in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Genetic parameters, variability, heritability and genetic advance were studied among 29 released/prerelease groundnut cultures during kharifseason to document the variation and to identify traits of high heritability in the context of intellectual property rights. The characters, length of main axis and primary branches, 100-seed weight, harvest index and days to emergence had high GCV, heritability and GAM and were found to be under greater control of additive gene action. While the traits, number of fully expanded leaves, weight of immature pods per plant and pod yield per plant with moderate heritability and high genetic advance also appear to be under the pre-dominant influence of additive gene action. The traits, leaflet length and width, leaf length and days to 50 percent flowering recorded low GCV, high heritabilty and high GAM which appear to be influenced by both additive and non-additive gene actions. Correlation and path co-efficient studies indicated that the characters, number of mature pods per plant, number of primary branches per plant and 100-seed weight should be given major emphasis for the development of high yielding genotypes.