Genotypic Association Between Yield and Yield Related Traits of Some Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Genotypes

Background and Objective: Variability among genotypes and the association between yield and yield-related traits are among the prominent criteria for crop improvement. The current study was carried out to determine the genotypic correlation between yield and yield-related traits and to study the genotypic association among yield-related traits. Materials and Methods: A total of 26 coffee genotypes were involved in the study. The experiment was conducted at Haru and Mugi using RCBD with three replications. Around 23 quantitative traits were recorded and analyzed using R-software. Results: A significant different performance was revealed among genotypes in most traits at an individual location. Because of the discrepancy in performance, the focus needs to be given to generating technology separately for an individual location. Number of bearing primary branch (NPB) (gr = 0.99**), average length of primary branch (gr = 0.99**) and number of nodes per primary branch (gr = 0.99**) exhibited strong positive genotypic correlation with yield at Haru. Plant height, NPB, total node number and diameter of the main stem had shown positive genotypic correlation with the yield at both locations. Also, most of these traits showed a positive association with each other. Some bean and fruit traits showed a positive correlation with yield. Conclusion: Generally, one has to be cognizant to select genotypes with thick girth and tall possessing high node number from which a high number of primary branches emanate and wider canopy diameter having a high number of bearing primary branches during yield improvement via selection.