'Plant Breeding: Sustaining the Future' Abstracts of the XVIth EUCARPIA Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland, 10-14 September 2001 PATH ANALYSIS FOR POPPING VOLUME, GRAIN YIELD AND GRAIN YIELD COMPONENTS IN POPCORN (Zea mays L everta) M.M. BABIC Maize Research Institute, S Bajica 1, 11080 Belgrade, Yugoslavia

The purpose of this study was to determine and evaluate effects of grain yield and grain yield components on popping volume. It was assumed that some of the selected traits, as independent variables, significantly affected popping volume as the dependent variable.  The highest correlation dependence (genetic and phenotypic) was detected between popping volume and the number of kernel per row (rg=0.82**, rf=0.75**). The direct genetic effects (path coefficients) were higher and more significant than phenotypic ones.  The highest direct genetic effect on popping volume was detected for the number of kernel per row (Pyg3=1.04**) and number of kernel row per ear (Pyg4=1.05**).  Negative direct genetic effect was found for grain yield (Pyg1=-1.32**) and moisture number of kernels per 10 grams Pyg4=-0.48**. The coefficients of genetic determination, especially genetic one, as we expected were not high (r2g=0.31, R2f=0.73) which indicate that studied traits do of determine popping volume at a great extent, so selection of genotypes with high popping volume could be done regardless grain yield and grain yield components.  Direct phenotypic effects were lower and not significant.