International Journal of Plant Breeding and Crop Science IJPBCS

Vol. 5(2), pp. 383-390, July, 2018. © www.premierpublishers.org. ISSN: 2167-0449

Research Article

Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis of some Coffee

(Coffea arabica L.) Accessions using Quantitative Traits
in Ethiopia
*Abdulfeta Tariku Kifle 1, Hussein Mohammed Ali 2, Ashenafi Ayano 3
1,3
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Jimma Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box192, Jimma,
Ethiopia
2
Hawassa University College of Agriculture, School of Plant and Horticultural Sciences, P.O. Box 05,
Hawassa, Ethiopia

The present investigation was carried out to study the correlation and path coefficient analysis
among 22 quantitative traits of 93 coffee (Coffea arabica L) germplasm accessions, including five
standard checks, which were collected from Tepi and its surroundings (Bench-Maji and Sheka
zones) using augmented design with four blocks. Analysis of variance revealed significant
difference among the accessions in leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, number of primary branches,
fruit length, bean length, bean width, bean thickness, hundred bean weight and green bean yield.
Number of secondary branch, stem girth, fruit traits (fruit length, fruit width, fruit thickness) and
bean traits (bean length, bean thickness and hundred bean weight) had the highest positive
correlation with green bean yield both at genotypic and phenotypic levels. Bean width and coffee
leaf rust had negative correlation with green bean yield both at genotypic and phenotypic levels.
Number of secondary branch was the only characters that showed positive and highly significant
genotypic correlation with clean coffee yield. Path coefficient analysis of the phenotypic
correlations revealed that number of secondary branches (0.449) and fruit thickness (0.280) had
the highest positive direct effect, while length of primary branch and bean width had the highest
negative direct effects, suggesting that these traits can be used for indirect selection of high
yielding accessions. However proper consideration should made about stem girth, plant height,
number of primary branches, leaf size and bean width. Hence, selection for these traits can
improve coffee bean yield and this could be exploited in the genetic improvement of the crop
through hybridization and selection.
Key words: Coffea arabica, Correlation, Path coefficient analysis, Coffee leaf rust, Ethiopia.

South-west and Eastern parts of the country. In these

INTRODUCTION areas found the famous coffee types including Yirgacheffe,
Sidama, Limmu, Gimbi and Harar coffee types
Coffee belongs to the genus Coffea in the Rubiacea family,
(Bayetta,1997). The overall land area devoted to coffee
grown in the tropical and subtropical regions (Berthaud
production due to new plantings is increasing and estimated
and Charrier, 1988). Out of 124 species of the genus
to be 700474.69 hectares, of which 469091.12 tons are
Coffea, (Davis et al.,2012) Coffea arabica Linnaeus
estimated to be productive with an average productivity of
(Arabica coffee) and Coffea Canephora Pierre (Robusta
about 669.6 kg ha-1 (CSA,2017).
coffee) are the two most important commercial species,
former one accounts for two-third of the world coffee
production, whereas the remaining proportion comes from *Corresponding author: Abdulfeta Tariku Kifle, Ethiopian
later one (Anthony et al.,2002; Labouisse et al.,2008). Institute of Agricultural Research, Jimma Agricultural
Research Center, P.O. Box192, Jimma, Ethiopia. E-mail:
Ethiopia is center of origin and diversity of Arabica coffee abdunuru69@gmail.com
( C . a r a b i c a L) and mainly producing by the South,
Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis of some Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Accessions using Quantitative Traits in Ethiopia
Abdulfeta et al. 384
Ethiopia is the largest producer of coffee in Africa and the
fifth largest coffee producer in the world next to Brazil,
Vietnam, Colombia and Indonesia, contributing about 4.2
% of the total world coffee production (ICO, 2016).
Knowledge of correlation between yield and its contributing
traits is enormously essential to find out guidelines for plant
selection (Yadav et al., 2011). It suggests the advantage
of a scheme of selection for more than one character at a
time (Simmonds, 1986). The path coefficient analysis
furnishing the cause and effect of different yield
component would provide better index for selection rather
than mere correlation coefficients. It partitions the
correlations into direct and indirect effects and hence has
effectively been used in identifying useful traits as
selection criteria to improve yield (Akinwale et al., 2011;
Sadeghi, 2011). Yield in coffee is commercially an
important trait in breeding goals of coffee improvement.
Therefore, it is desirable to know the direct and indirect
effect of yield related traits in coffee.
In Arabica coffee breeding programs, characters
associations studies have been conducted elsewhere but
rarely in Ethiopian. For instance, Gessese et al.,(2015)
showed positive correlation with yield and with some
agronomic traits coffee .Ermias (2005) on 81 West
Wollega coffee accessions, Getachew et al. (2013) on 49
from Gomma Wereda, Olika et al. (2011) on 49 Limmu
coffee accessions and Lemi et al. (2017) on 64 coffee
accessions have reported that characters such as number
of primary branch, stem girth, canopy diameter and plant
height are known to be related with and significantly
influence yield of Arabica coffee. It is obvious that yield is
the result of yield-correlated characters and some other
undefined factors. Therefore, the use of this method
requires a cause and effect relation among the variables
(Dewey and Lu, 1959). Moreover, selections to improve
yield directly may be difficult and time consuming
especially for perennial tree crops with a long juvenile
period such as coffee (Yigzaw, 2005). Therefore,
adequate knowledge of association between yield and its
contributing characters has a great importance in plant
breeding that enables plant breeders to breed for high
yielding genotypes with desired combinations of
characters (Khan and Dar, 2010).
However, in Ethiopia, despite the demands of consumers,
greater socio-economic benefits of coffee cultivation and
huge influence of other agronomic characters on coffee
yield, coffee breeding programs on the improvement of
other agronomic traits as well as the study on the nature
of associations among characters and the yield was
limited. Similarly, there is no detailed information on the
extent and nature of interrelationships among characters.
Keeping this in view, the present study was conducted to
detect correlation and path coefficient analysis of some
Tepi and its surrounding (Bench-Maji and Sheka zones)
coffee germplasm accessions based on morphological
trait and their association with each other.
Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis of some Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Accessions using Quantitative Traits in Ethiopia
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Experimental material, design and management:
The experiment was conducted on 93 coffee accessions
germplasms, including the five standard checks (Table 1)
at Tepi National Spices Agricultural Research Center,
Southwest Ethiopia. Tepi is located at a latitude of 7° 3' N
and longitude of 35° 18' E. and at an altitude of
1200masl.The mean annual rainfall of the area is 1678mm
per annum well distributed over eight months with an
average maximum and minimum air temperatures of 30°C
and 16°C, respectively and Soil PH=6.9-8 with fine
textured 30-80% clay soil. The experimental design was
augmented design with four blocks. Each accession was
planted a single row of 12 trees using spacing of 2m by
2m. All the management practices such as shading,
weeding and fertilization were uniformly applied to all plots
as per the recommendation (Endale et al.,2008).
Data collection: Data on 22 quantitative traits viz.,leaf
length (cm), leaf width (cm), leaf area (cm2),bean length
(mm), bean width (mm), bean thickness (mm), fruit length
(mm), fruit width (mm), fruit thickness (mm), hundred bean
weight (gm), yield (kg/ha), plant height (cm), stem
diameter (cm), number of main stem nodes (no), canopy
diameter (cm), average internodes of stem (cm), length of
primary branches (cm), number of primary branches,
number of secondary branches, height up to first primary
branches (cm), number of node on primary branch(no)and
coffee leaf rust (%) (IPGRI, 1996) were recorded on plot
basis with three trees from each accession by random
sampling method.
Data analysis: Recorded data on 22 quantitative
characters were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA)
using SAS version 9.2 (SAS, 2010) to examine the
presence of statistically significant differences among
accessions for the characters studied. The phenotypic and
genotypic correlation coefficients were estimated using the
formula suggested by Johnson et al. (1955) and Singh and
Chaudhury (1987).
rg= Gcovxy/√ (Vgx.Vgy)
rp= Pcovxy/√ (Vpx. Vpy)
Where,
rp= Phenotypic correlation coefficient
rg = Genetoypic correlation coefficient
Pcovxy = Phenotypic covariance between traits x and y
Gcovxy = Genotypic covariance between traits x and y
Vpx = Phenotypic variance of trait x
Vgx = Genotypic variance of trait x.
Vpy = Phenotypic variance of trait y.
Vgy = Genotypic variance of trait y
The coefficients of correlation were tested using “r”
tabulated value at n-2 degree of freedom, at 5% and 1%
probability level, where n is the number of treatments
(accessions).
 Int. J. Plant Breed. Crop Sci. 385

Table 1. Description of Coffea arabica L. germplasm accessions studied

Zones District (Woreda) Peasant association Altitudes (m) Number of collected accession
Bero 1629-1680 5
Garo 1708 1
Bero Jeba-01 1698-1718 3
Kasi 1601-1676 4
Sirit 1656-1664 2
Bus 1438-1449 6
Bench-Maji Kudum 1532-1611 6
(65 accessions ) Menit-Shasha Dargach 1870-1930 4
Shawa Jebabo 1900-1950 2
Kuju 1975 2
Era 1537-1573 3
Gizemeret 1049-1338 10
Shimi 1047-1250 6
Sheko Sanka 1215-1450 4
Ayibrana Sanka 1220-1290 7
Gemedro 1510-1650 8
Sheka Andracha Yokichich 1810-1900 8
(23 accessions) Chegechecha 1890-2000 7
*Geisha Check 1 88
*CatimorJ-19 Check 2 *FIVE STANDARD CHECKS
*Dessu Check 3
*7454 Check 4
*7440 Check 5
TOTAL ACCESSIONS 93

Path coefficient analysis was made following the method
described by Dewey and Lu (1959).
rij =Pij+ Σrikpkj
Where,
rij = Mutual association between the independent
character (i) and dependent Character (j) as measured by
the correlation coefficient
Pij = Component of direct effects of the independent
character (i) on dependent character(j)as measured by the
path coefficient
∑ rikpkj=Summation of components of indirect effect of a
given independent character (i) on the given dependent
character (j) via all other independent character (k)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that accession
differed significantly (P < 0.05) for most of the quantitative
traits studied viz leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, number
of primary branches, fruit length, bean length, bean width,
bean thickness, hundred bean weight and green bean
yield. (Table 2). This indicates the presence of variability
among the experimental material, which can be exploited
through selection and hybridization in order to improve the
yield of clean coffee bean.
Phenotypic and Genotypic correlation coefficients

Residual effect was estimated by the formula: √𝟏 −R2
Where,
R2 =Σpij.rij
pij = Component of direct effects of the independent
character (i) and dependent character (j) as measured by
the path coefficient
rij = Mutual association between the independent
character (i) and dependent character (j) as Measured by
the correlation coefficient
Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis of some Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Accessions using Quantitative Traits in Ethiopia
The study revealed that phenotypic correlations were much
lower in magnitude than their corresponding genotypic
correlations. Association of characters at phenotypic level
correlations was less pronounced as compared to that of
genotypic level in terms of significance. This may be
attributed to considerable influence of environment on the
expressions of these traits. Such a view is approved by the
reports of earlier researchers (Sylva and Carvalho, 1997).
At the genotypic level coffee bean yield showed negative
correlation with leaf traits (leaf length, leaf width, leaf
area) and number of main stem node, average internode
length, plant height, canopy diameter, bean width and
coffee leaf rust. It had positive correlation with rest of the
traits. At the phenotypic level coffee bean yield had
Abdulfeta et al. 386
negative correlation only with length of primary branch
and bean width and coffee leaf rust. It had positive
correlation with the rest of traits (Table 3). Coffee bean
yield exhibited the highest positive phenotypic and
genotypic correlations with number of secondary branch
and girth size. Fruit traits (fruit length, fruit width, fruit
thickness) and bean traits (bean length, bean thickness and
hundred bean weight) had positive correlation at both
genotypic and phenotypic levels. Number of primary branch
and number of node on primary secondary branch also had
positive correlation with coffee yield at both phenotypic and
genotypic levels. Bean width and coffee leaf rust had
negative correlation with coffee bean yield both at genotypic
and phenotypic levels. Among the characters studied, the
correlation was statistically significant only with number of
secondary branch, indicating greater importance and
reliability of the character for selection for improvement of
yield in coffee. So, Selection for a character based on its
close association (positive and significant) with other
characters is very useful for simultaneous improvement of
all the associated characters. Therefore, the more number
of primary branches a coffee tree bear and the longer these
branches are and the more number of nodes they bear, the
more number of fruit bearing secondary branches develop
from them and the higher the green bean yield the tree
bears. Trees with thicker stems (higher stem girth), bearing
longer, wider and thicker branches bearing long, plump
(thicker) and heavier beans (high hundred bean weight) are
seems to lead to identification of trees with higher green
bean yield.
On the other hand, for characters, manifesting negative
association, simultaneous improvement of characters
could be quite difficult and independent selection may have
to be carried out to improve such characters (Sylva and
Carvalho,1997). Hence, selection should be against wider
beans and against susceptibility to coffee leaf rust. The
result is in agreement with Olika et al. (2011) who reported
non-significant phenotypic correlations of almost all
morphological traits with yield of coffee. Similarly,
Getachew et al., (2013) has reported that yield exhibited
non-significant phenotypic positive association with height
up to first primary branch, average inter node length of
main stem, leaf length and width, fruit length and
thickness, bean length, width and hundred bean weights.
Yigzaw (2005) also reported positive phenotypic
correlations among growth characters, yield characters and
between yield and growth characters.
Phenotypic Path Coefficient Analysis
Correlations in phenotypic terms were analyzed further by
path coefficient analysis technique, which involved
partitioning of the correlation coefficient into direct and
indirect effects via alternative characters or pathways. It
provides an insight into the inter-relationship of various
characters with coffee bean yield. Only nine traits (leaf
area, plant height, girth size, length of primary branch,
number of primary branches, number of node on primary
Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis of some Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Accessions using Quantitative Traits in Ethiopia
branches, number of secondary branches, fruit thickness
and bean width) explained almost the same amount of
variation in green bean yield as the 21 traits (27 vs 30%),
that's why they show only these traits (Table 4)
Path coefficient analysis of the phenotypic correlations
revealed that number of secondary branches had the
highest positive direct effect (0.449). Selection of trees
having high number of secondary branches is expected to
identify high yielding genotypes. The indirect effect of
number of secondary branches showed positive indirect
effect through all traits except length of primary branch,
number of primary branches and bean width. Selection for
trees based on high number of secondary branches may
be effective for further breeding programme. The direct
effect of length of primary branch (-0.249) and number of
primary branches (-0.176) green bean yield was found to
be negative. The negative values of the path coefficients
resulted from the negative indirect effects of traits such as
leaf area, plant height, number of secondary branches,
and stem girth via number and length of primary branches.
The indirect effect of all other traits through number of
secondary branches was positive. Fruit thickness had the
second highest positive direct effect (0.280) and positive
indirect effect through all other traits except length of
primary branch and bean width on green bean yield.
Selecting genotypes with thicker fruits one has to take the
necessary caution not to select simultaneously genotypes
with the longest primary branches and the thickest beans.
Length of primary branch (-0.249), number of primary
branches (-0.176) and bean width (-0.208) had negative
direct effects on green bean yield. The negative direct
effect of number of primary branches on bean yield was
the consequence of the indirect effect of other traits
through it except length of primary branch, fruit thickness
and bean width. Leaf area, plant height, girth size and
number of node on primary branches also had positive
direct on green bean yield, indicates selecting taller
genotypes with strong stems (higher girth size) bearing
fewer short primary branches with many nodes and hence
producing many secondary branches with larger leaves
(leaf area), thicker fruits but narrower beans (small bean
width) is expected to lead to the identification of genotypes
with high green bean yield. Lemi et al. (2017) reported
positive direct effect of plant height but negative direct
effects of number of primary branch. Ermias (2005) also
revealed positive direct effect of plant height but negative
direct effects of canopy diameter and length of primary
branch on yield.
The estimated residual effect was 0.34 indicating that about
that about 66% of the variation was due to the traits
considered in the phenotypic path analysis.
In general, the path analysis carried out in the present
study revealed that the main components of bean yield
which had positive direct effect of bean yield should be
given high priority for making selection for high yielding
accessions in Tepi and its surroundings coffee.
 Int. J. Plant Breed. Crop Sci. 387

Table 2: Analysis of variance of 22 quantitative character

NO Trait Mean squares
Block(adj) Trt(Adj) Among Among Tests Vs Error CV %
accessions checks control
DF=3 DF=92 DF=87 DF=4 DF=1 DF=12
1 LL 0.86 ns 1.17 ** 1.16** 1.32* 0.96 ns 0.31 3.57
2 LW 0.31 ns 0.46 ** 0.36* 2.21*** 2.47*** 0.15 5.84
3 LA 96.70 ns 118.72 ** 101.84* 410.93*** 418.34** 34.26 8.58
4 LPB 45.29 ns 76.90 ns 65.73 ns 248.79** 360.86** 49.36 7.27
5 PH 128.62 ns 1394.47 ns 1316.22 ns 1041.33 ns 9614.79** 896.85 10.26
6 HUFB 11.75 * 4.30 ns 4.29 ns 2.56 ns 13.15* 3.25 4.47
7 AILS 0.12 ns 1.52 ns 1.33 ns 3.20* 11.68** 1.14 16.35
8 NMN 1.73 ns 10.29 ns 9.68 ns 24.68 ns 5.60 ns 9.61 9.19
9 GS 113.00 ** 21.77 ns 21.73 ns 22.98 ns 20.12 ns 21.57 9.98
10 NPB 53.52 ns 74.22 * 57.03* 436.25*** 121.21* 26.02 10.51
11 NNPB 0.91 ns 3.00 ns 2.93 ns 5.29 ns 0.04 ns 2.88 8.53
12 CD 416.99 ns 280.93 ns 247.81 ns 963.67** 430.79 ns 201.60 7.17
13 NSB 2788.98 ** 640.22 ns 631.16 ns 393.18 ns 2416.51* 420.28 31.07
14 FL 0.03 ns 1.21 *** 1.22*** 0.17 ns 5.22*** 0.15 2.40
15 FW 0.45 ns 0.57 ns 0.59 ns 0.33 ns 0.50 ns 0.32 4.82
16 FT 0.06 ns 0.83 ns 0.83 ns 0.88 ns 0.54 ns 0.55 5.27
17 BL 0.09 0.63 ** 0.63** 0.07 2.96*** 0.14 2.95
18 BW 0.24 *** 0.14 *** 0.15*** 0.01 0.13* 0.02 2.68
19 BT 0.01 ns 0.20 *** 0.18*** 0.04 ns 2.54*** 0.03 2.17
20 CLR 13.69 ns 16.04 ns 12.06 ns 50.98* 222.35*** 13.51 81.8
20 CLR2 0.12 ns 0.50 ns 0.42 ns 0.55 ns 7.53*** 0.25 34.22
21 YLD 91913.44 ** 78769.01 *** 79477.71** 13703.97 277371.84** 13520.48 30.43
22 HBW 0.51 ns 5.23** 5.42** 0.12 ns 9.34* 1.30 6.26

Where * =Significant at probability level of 0.05 and ** =Significant at probability level of 0.01,and *** = Significant
at probability level of 0.001.DF= Degree of freedom, NS=non significance CV%=Coefficient of variation in
percentage, LL=leaf length, LW=leaf width, LA=leaf area, FL=fruit length, BL=bean length, HBW=hundred bean weight
YLD=green bean yield, PH=plant height, NPB=number of primary branches, LPB=length of primary branches,
NSB=number of secondary branches, CD=canopy diameter, FW=fruit width FT=fruit thickness; BW=bean width; BT=bean
thickness; CLR=Coffee leaf rust; CLR2=log(Coffee leaf rust+1); GS=Girth of stem; HUFB=height upto first primary branch
; AILS= average inter node length of primary branches;NMN= number of main stem node ; NNPB= number of node on
primary branches.

Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis of some Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Accessions using Quantitative Traits in Ethiopia
Abdulfeta et al. 388

Table 3: Estimates of phenotypic (below diagonal) and genotypic correlation coefficient (above diagonal) of 22 quantitative traits
YLD LL LW LA PH HUFPB AILS NMN GS LPB NPB NNPB CD NSB FL FW FT BL BW BT CLR HBW
YLD 1.00 -0.07 -0.11 -0.09 -0.15 0.06 -0.08 -0.09 0.79 0.08 0.08 0.09 -0.09 1.00*** 0.20 0.30 0.26 0.12 -0.05 0.17 -0.09 0.26
LL 0.03 1.00 0.72 0.89 0.50 0.37 0.45 0.46 1.02 0.07 -0.11 -0.44 0.22 0.36 0.34 -0.12 0.16 0.15 0.31 0.18 -0.07 0.63
LW 0.03 0.66 1.00 0.95 -0.11 0.63 -0.65 1.98 1.52 0.37 0.35 -0.15 0.01 0.32 0.33 0.37 0.29 0.11 0.22 0.09 -0.02 0.34
LA 0.05 0.87 0.95 1.00 0.12 0.61 -0.25 1.46 1.30 0.24 0.18 -0.35 0.07 0.36 0.37 0.18 0.25 0.14 0.26 0.13 -0.04 0.50
PH 0.05 0.22 0.05 0.12 1.00 -0.74 0.88 1.01 -7.26 1.16 -0.02 -2.13 0.73 -0.83 0.75 0.92 -0.11 0.46 0.30 0.41 -0.69 0.09
HUFPB 0.04 0.07 0.18 0.16 -0.09 1.00 -1.10 1.23 -5.19 -0.64 -0.05 2.47 -2.21 0.01 0.16 0.56 -0.60 -0.06 -0.07 -0.42 -0.16 -0.24
AILS 0.01 0.19 -0.06 0.03 0.82 -0.15 1.00 0.51 -2.38 1.56 -0.13 -2.10 1.27 -1.08 0.97 0.89 -0.16 0.83 0.43 0.50 -0.71 -0.25
NMN 0.05 0.01 0.20 0.15 0.12 0.05 -0.46 1.00 -17.21 -1.19 0.38 0.33 -1.41 0.26 -0.58 0.59 1.06 -1.30 -0.42 -0.06 -0.18 1.07
GS 0.16 0.02 0.04 0.04 -0.01 -0.03 -0.06 0.08 1.00 -2.55 -1.51 -18.34 -4.15 -0.40 -0.43 -3.40 -6.13 -0.47 -0.10 -1.03 -4.87 3.17
LPB -0.01 0.17 0.15 0.17 0.39 -0.05 0.38 -0.06 0.16 1.00 -0.51 0.29 -0.01 0.56 0.38 0.21 0.31 -0.18 -0.15 0.04 -0.74 0.31
NPB 0.12 -0.07 0.16 0.08 0.04 0.10 -0.26 0.52 0.25 -0.06 1.00 1.78 -0.37 0.89 -0.09 -0.02 -0.33 -0.23 -0.19 -0.10 0.05 0.18
NNPB 0.21 -0.05 0.10 0.05 -0.08 0.13 -0.17 0.15 0.19 0.10 0.34 1.00 1.53 3.15 1.81 1.26 -0.86 1.80 -0.27 -0.84 -0.42 1.78
CD 0.01 0.19 0.08 0.13 0.22 -0.10 0.25 -0.11 0.09 0.45 0.02 0.21 1.00 0.82 0.17 0.30 0.37 -0.51 -0.14 -0.20 -1.41 -0.08
NSB 0.38 -0.04 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.07 -0.06 0.10 0.32 0.26 0.46 0.30 0.14 1.00 0.20 0.33 -0.38 0.13 0.10 0.53 0.36 -0.28
FL 0.12 0.26 0.13 0.20 0.34 0.13 0.35 -0.06 -0.07 0.21 -0.04 0.11 0.09 0.11 1.00 0.53 0.96 0.49 0.50 0.45 -0.45 0.34
FW 0.19 0.16 0.24 0.23 0.33 0.11 0.23 0.13 -0.12 0.14 0.10 0.04 0.08 0.07 0.44 1.00 0.94 -0.13 0.57 0.55 -0.37 0.57
FT 0.21 0.25 0.21 0.25 0.34 0.00 0.31 0.01 -0.01 0.18 -0.07 0.04 0.11 0.03 0.51 0.75 1.00 0.38 0.92 0.82 -0.38 1.04
BL 0.05 0.08 -0.04 0.01 0.06 0.00 0.07 -0.01 0.01 0.03 0.00 0.14 -0.10 0.03 0.51 -0.01 0.04 1.00 0.21 0.22 -0.29 0.28
BW -0.03 0.27 0.19 0.23 0.19 -0.03 0.17 0.00 0.12 0.08 -0.05 0.01 0.08 0.02 0.42 0.37 0.49 0.23 1.00 0.49 -0.37 0.45
BT 0.20 0.20 0.13 0.17 0.22 -0.18 0.23 -0.05 -0.04 0.08 -0.06 -0.08 0.01 0.13 0.40 0.41 0.45 0.23 0.45 1.00 -0.76 0.32
CLR -0.02 -0.12 -0.01 -0.06 -0.40 0.11 -0.45 0.17 -0.07 -0.27 0.20 0.17 -0.32 0.12 -0.32 -0.27 -0.29 -0.07 -0.28 -0.37 1.00 0.22
HBW 0.10 0.33 0.21 0.29 0.07 -0.03 -0.04 0.16 0.07 0.01 0.02 -0.01 -0.11 0.05 0.34 0.26 0.39 0.24 0.31 0.21 0.15 1.00
Where YLD=green bean yiel; LL=leaf length, LW=leaf width, LA=leaf area, FL=fruit length, BL=bean length, HBW=hundred bean weight, PH=plant height,
NPB=number of primary branches, LPB=length of primary branches, NSB=number of secondary branches, CD=canopy diameter, FW=fruit width FT=fruit thickness;
BW=bean width; BT=bean thickness; CLR= Coffee leaf rust; GS=Girth of stem; HUFB=height upto first primary branch ; AILS= average inter node length of primary
branches; NMN= number of main stem node ; NNPB= number of node on primary branches .
*** = Significant at probability level of 0.001.

Table 4: Direct effect (bold and underline) and indirect effects of Path coefficient analysis of phenotypic correlations of nine explanatory traits
LA PH GS LPB NPB NNPB NSB FT BW CORR
LA 0.056 0.013 0.004 -0.042 -0.015 0.007 0.002 0.069 -0.048 0.048
PH 0.007 0.105 -0.001 -0.097 -0.008 -0.011 0.001 0.094 -0.040 0.050
GS 0.002 -0.001 0.099 -0.040 -0.043 0.026 0.144 -0.001 -0.025 0.161
LPB 0.009 0.041 0.016 -0.249 0.011 0.014 0.116 0.049 -0.015 -0.007
NPB 0.005 0.005 0.024 0.016 -0.176 0.046 0.206 -0.019 0.011 0.118
NNPB 0.003 -0.008 0.019 -0.026 -0.060 0.137 0.133 0.012 -0.002 0.207
NSB 0.000 0.000 0.032 -0.064 -0.081 0.041 0.449 0.007 -0.003 0.380
FT 0.014 0.035 0.000 -0.043 0.012 0.006 0.011 0.280 -0.102 0.212
BW 0.013 0.020 0.012 -0.019 0.009 0.002 0.007 0.137 -0.208 -0.026
Residual effect=0.34. Where LA=leaf area, PH=plant height, GS=girth size, LPB=length of primary branch, NPB=number of primary branches, NNPB=number of
node on primary branches, NSB=number of secondary branches, FT=fruit thickness and BW=bean width

Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis of some Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Accessions using Quantitative Traits in Ethiopia

CONCLUSION
Phenotypic level of correlation was less pronounced as
compared to that of genotypic level in terms of significance,
demonstrating less influence of environment on the
expressions of these traits. Coffee bean yields exhibited the
highest positive phenotypic and genotypic correlations with
number of secondary branch and girth size. Fruit traits (fruit
length, fruit width, fruit thickness) and bean traits (bean
length, bean thickness and hundred bean weight) had
positive correlation at both genotypic and phenotypic levels.
Number of primary branch and number of node on primary
secondary branch also had positive correlation with coffee
yield at both phenotypic and genotypic levels. Only number
of secondary branch was statistically significant with bean
yield at genotypic level, indicating greater importance and
reliability of the character for selection for improvement of
yield in coffee. Bean width and coffee leaf rust had negative
correlation with green bean yield both at genotypic and
phenotypic levels. Hence, selection should be against wider
beans and against susceptibility to coffee leaf rust. Path
coefficient analysis of the phenotypic correlations revealed
that number of secondary branches and fruit thickness had
the highest positive direct effect, while length of primary
branch and bean width had the highest negative direct
effects, suggesting that these traits can be used for indirect
selection of high yielding accessions. The study showed
that coffee breeders to given high priority for coffee
improvement emphasizing to a few number of component
characters. Hence, selection for these traits can improve
coffee bean yield and this could be helpful in minimizing the
time required to search for more component characters and
improve the efficiency of the future breeding program.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to acknowledge Ethiopian Institute of
Agricultural Research, Jimma Agricultural Research Center
for the source of budget for the study and Tepi National
Spices Agricultural Research Center for land.
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Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis of some Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Accessions using Quantitative Traits in Ethiopia