~ 1453 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2019; 8(4): 1453-1458 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2019; 8(4): 1453-1458 Received: 07-05-2019 Accepted: 09-06-2019 Chaitra C Kulkarni Plant Molecular Biology Lab (DBT-BIO Care), Dept. of Biotechnology & Crop Improvement, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Manikanta DS Plant Molecular Biology Lab (DBT-BIO Care), Dept. of Biotechnology & Crop Improvement, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Chaitra AP Plant Molecular Biology Lab (DBT-BIO Care), Dept. of Biotechnology & Crop Improvement, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Sarvamangala S Cholin Plant Molecular Biology Lab (DBT-BIO Care), Dept. of Biotechnology & Crop Improvement, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Correspondence Sarvamangala S Cholin Plant Molecular Biology Lab (DBT-BIO Care), Dept. of Biotechnology & Crop Improvement, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Character association studies by correlation estimates of diverse carrot germplasm lines evaluated under tropical climate Chaitra C Kulkarni, Manikanta DS, Chaitra AP and Sarvamangala S Cholin Abstract Ninety six germplasm lines of carrot collected from different parts of India were evaluated on the basis of 33 phenotypic traits (18 quantitative and 15 qualitative) in an Augmented block design comprising of 3 checks (Ghataprabha Local, Vigro Kuruda and Pusa Vrishti) with 6 blocks was utilized to screen the genotypes comprising of temperate and tropical types with diverse colors at University of horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot during winter season from August-December, 2016. Correlation analysis was carried out to study the character association by Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis among root morphological and biochemical traits of carrot genotypes for the identification of appropriate selection indices. Genotypic correlation coefficient analysis revealed that root weight, root length, leaf width, petiole length, leaf length and root diameter had significant positive correlation indicating their effectiveness in selection for higher productivity in carrot. Keywords: Carrot, correlation, root length, productivity, tropical climate Introduction Carrot (Daucus carota L.) is an important vegetable crop grown all over the world. It is grown during spring, summer and autumn in temperate climate and during winter in tropical and sub- tropical climate. It is a dicotyledonous herbaceous crop grown for its enlarged tap roots and belongs to family Apiaceae. Temperate carrots are thought to be originally native to the Asia Minor, in particular Turkey (Vavilov 1951) [7] . It is believed that it was in these areas that the carrot was domesticated from the weed "Queen Ann's Lace". Originally they were small, thin with many colours ranging from purple, orange and yellow to red as well as black to white. Selection of one trait invariably affects number of associated traits, which evokes the need to find out the inter-relationship of various yield components both among themselves and with yield. The knowledge of the inter-relationship between different traits is important in breeding for direct and indirect selection of traits that are not easily measured and those with low heritability. The consistent associations of yield characters over environment are of immense importance and improve the breeding efficiency (Adunga and Labuschangne 2003) [1] .Therefore, it is necessary to examine the magnitude of correlation between characters for achieving the higher yield. However, correlation studies do not provide the exact picture of relative importance of direct and indirect effects of each of the component character. Moreover, when more and more variables are included, the indirect association becomes more complex. Yet, such association among traits information provides a realistic basis for allocation of appropriate weight age to various yield components. Therefore an attempt was made to know variability and character association between yield and its components. The information on Asiatic carrots (tropical type) in India and probably abroad is very scanty because tropical types has not received ample attention for its genetic improvement. Therefore in the present study 96 germplasm lines representing both tropical and temperate types were evaluated in order to compare their genotypes for various horticulture traits, along with the character association for understanding of these traits and incorporation these traits through breeding strategy. Materials and Methods The field experiment for germplasm evaluation for various horticultural traits was conducted at Udyanagiri Campus of University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, and Karnataka, India during 2016. Bagalkot is located in the northern region of Karnataka and positioned at 16°12′N, 75°45′E the average elevation in this area reaches approximately 610 m and