Mohamed Baker Alabd Alwahed1*, Faisal Bakor1 and Thamer Alhenish2
1 Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agricultural, Homs University, Syria.
2 General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research, Field Crops Research Administration, Syria.
(*Corresponding author: Mohamed Baker, Email: Baker963949351833@gmail.com )
Received: 1/ 2/ 2026 Accepted: 12/ 3/ 2026
Abstract:
Three single crosses of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were evaluated at the Qarahta Research Station during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons. The study aimed to assess the correlation relationships between grain yield and its components, and to identify the most significant traits influencing yield using path coefficient analysis. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Data were statistically analyzed to determine simple correlation coefficients, direct and indirect effects of yield components, the coefficient of determination (R2), and the relative importance of each trait in explaining grain yield variation. Correlation analysis revealed positive and highly significant relationships (p ≤ 0.01) between grain yield and grains per plant (GPP), grain per spike (GPS), thousand kernel weight (TKW), spikes per plant (SPP), and harvest index (HI) across all three crosses. Path coefficient analysis indicated that grains per plant (GPP) had the highest direct contribution to grain yield variation in all crosses. The direct effect values were 0.749, 0.613, and 0.980 for the first, second, and third crosses, respectively. The relative importance of this trait was 68.35%, 53.61%, and 88.91%, respectively, followed by thousand kernel weight (TKW). The coefficient of determination (R2) values for the statistical models of the three crosses were 0.979, 0.994, and 0.996, respectively, indicating that the studied traits accounted for more than 98% of the total variation in grain yield. These results confirm that grains per plant is a primary trait to target during direct selection in breeding programs. It can be adopted as a fundamental selection criterion for improving grain yield, while also considering the simultaneous improvement of thousand kernel weight and the maintenance of high tillering capacity (spikes per plant) as supporting factors to maximize productivity in these promising bread wheat crosses.
Keywords: Bread Wheat, Correlation Coefficient, Path Analysis, Grain Yield.
Full paper in Arabic: PDF