Abstract
Eighteen promising collections of Swertia chirayita were evaluated to see the association of characters contributing to bitter principle and herbage yield. Genotypic correlation co-efficient values were higher almost in all combinations than the phenotypic correlation values. Plant height, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, leaf area and root thickness were positively and significantly correlated at genotypic level with herbage yield and bitter content in the herbs. Herbage yield, however, gave highest positive and significant values of correlation co-efficient with bitter content both at phenotypic and genotypic levels. No significant positive or negative environmental correlation was found for any paired character. Root thickness, number of leaves per plant, leaf area and herbage yield contributed directly towards the bitter yield per unit area and bitter content in the herbs. Whereas, plant height and root length counterbalanced for positive association, thereby indicating the greater emphasis needs to be laid for the characters having direct bearing on dependent variable, for increasing the ultimate yield.
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