Relationship between seed yield and its component characters in Cenchrus spp.

Cenchrus setigerus, C. sp., eleven obligate apomictic cultivars and a sexual line of Cenchrus ciliaris L. were studied to determine the relationship between seed production and its component characters, through principal component analysis, path correlation analysis and analysis of variance. A completely randomized field design was used. Ten vegetative and reproductive morphological characters were measured. Seed production was influenced directly by panicle weight and indirectly by panicle length, 1000 seed weight, length and width of flag leaf lamina and length of flag leaf sheath. Panicle weight showed high heritability and variability among genotypes. Hence, panicle weight can be considered a selection criterion to obtain increased seed production in Cenchrus. The cultivar Lucero INTA PEMAN exhibited the highest panicle weight and, therefore, greatest seed production, which makes it suitable for selection as parental cultivar to obtain new germplasm in Cenchrus with high seed yield.