Abstract

Awareness of interrelationship between flower yield and its components will improve the efficiency of breeding programs through the use of appropriate selection criteria. This research uses sequential path analyses to determine the interrelationships among flower yield and related-traits. 20 chamomile populations were cultivated to determine the important components of flower yield. Flower yield and its components were recorded. Correlation coefficient analysis revealed that flower yield was positively correlated with all the characters except for flower height (FH), days to start flowering (DF) and days to end flowering (DE). Sequential path analysis identified the harvest index (HI) and biological yield (BY) as important first order traits that influenced flower yield. All direct effects were significant as indicated by bootstrap analysis. The results suggest that HI and BY could be used as selection criterion in selecting for increased flower yield in chamomile.

Key words: Chamomile, sequential path analysis, bootstrap analysis, flower yield.