Abstract

An experiment was carried out in the Experimental Farm, Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat during 2016–17 and 2017–18 to study the genetic diversity in tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) genotypes. The experiment was laid out with 18 tuberose genotypes in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. Observations were recorded for growth, flower and physiological characters. Correlation studies revealed that at genotypic level significant positive correlation of yield of florets per spike was observed with leaf length, leaf breadth, leaf area index, rachis length, number of florets per spike, length of floret, diameter of spike, number of economic bulbs produced per bulb planted, bulb weight, bulb size, flower weight, vase life of spike, vase life of floret, moisture content, fresh weight of spike, duration of spike, duration of single flower, diameter of rachis and number of spikes per bulb. Path analysis revealed that fresh weight of spike showed the highest and positive direct effect on yield of florets per spike. Highest positive and indirect effect was observed in floret weight via duration of floret. So, these traits may be used as selection criteria for the improvement of yield of tuberose cultivars.