Correlations among alfalfa yield components

Presented in this paper are the results of our study of correlations among yield components in ten alfalfa genotypes under open pollination (polycross) conditions. The study was conducted between 2000 and 2002 at the Rimski Sancevi Experiment Field of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad. Highly significant correlations were found between pod number per inflorescence and seed number per inflorescence (r= 0.645) as well as between seed number per pod and seed number per inflorescence (r= 0.685). Similarly, the correlation between inflorescence number per stem and seed yield was significant and positive (r= 0.589). Negative correlations existed between ovule number per ovary on the one hand and seed yield and inflorescence number per stem on the other (r= -0.617 and r= -0.598, respectively). The highest seed yield was achieved with the cultivar Europe (651.4 kg ha-1) and the lowest with the genotype Le-6 (426.25 kg ha-1). The difference was highly significant (CV= 14,93%).