Original Research Article Unravelling the Genetic Divergence and Trait Association for Yield and Its Component Traits among Germplasm Lines in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

The current study was focused on unravelling the genetic basis for seed cotton yield and yield attributing traits with an emphasis on isolating most potential germplasm accessions. A set of 192 cotton germplasm accessions were evaluated in augmented design for two seasons (2022 and 2023) in two different environments. The observations on yield and yield attributing traits were recorded at the time of harvest and advanced for essential statistical analysis. The results of correlation analysis indicated the presence of significant and positive correlation between seed cotton yield with number of sympodia per plant, number of bolls per plant, lint yield, boll weight and lint index, indicating selection for these traits indirectly enhance the seed cotton yield. While diversity analysis categorized germplasm accessions into eight different clusters. The results indicated the existence of adequate genetic diversity among the germplasm lines which can be exploited to manifest higher magnitude of heterosis through hybridization of genotypes belonging to different clusters.