Studies on Genetic Variability, Heritability, Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis in Betel Vine (Piper betle L.) Genotypes

The present investigation was undertaken to estimate the genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance for growth and yield parameters among 37 genotypes of betel vine in a randomized design with 3 replications during 2019-21 at farmer’s field, Badami, Karnataka. Analysis of variance revealed that the genotypes significantly differed for all the characters studied. The results showed that phenotypic coefficient of variations values were higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation for all the characters studied. The values of heritability in broad sense were observed very high for all the twenty one traits. Correlation studies revealed that total yield per vine was significantly and positively correlated with plant height (0.918), number of laterals per vine (0.988), number of leaves per lateral (0.827), total number of leaves per vine (0.863), clinging roots (0.887), petiole length (0.814) and path analysis showed that the traits such as number of laterals per vine (0.6350), total number of leaves per vine (0.2601), clinging roots (0.0839), leaf area (0.2091) and petiole length (0.2696) had direct and positive effect on total yield per vine. Hence, direct selection would be more effective in improving these traits. In this background, the aim of the study is to identify considerable variations among the genotypes for further crop improvement programme and multiplication of quality planting material.