Journal of Crop Production and Processing

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Diallel crosses among 6 Avena sativa L. and A. sterilis L. lines and introductions were used to evaluate the validity of the assumptions for the genetic model. Number of days to pollination, plant height at pollination and at maturity, as well as grain and stem protein percentages were evaluated. According to Griffing's method 1 the reciprocal mean squares for all the traits under study were significant. But based on Hayman's analysis, the maternal effects for all the traits studied were not significant. Therefore, reciprocal means were used to evaluate the validity of the absence of multiple alleles, linkage and epistasis effects using regression of W_r on V_r and analysis of variance for W_r + V_r and W_r - V_r. Based on the results of the 3 methods, the genetic models for plant height at maturity and days to pollination were unbiased. Therefore, Hayman's analysis was used to estimate the genetic parameters for these traits. For plant height at pollination and stem protein percentage, significant and nonsignificant differences of regression slope from one and zero (Ho: β = 1 and Ho: β = 0) were detected, respectively. For these traits the biasedness of the model was removed after elimination of one parent from the diallel table. Grain protein percentage was not analyzed as it necessitated the elimination of 2 parents from the diallel table. In general, regression of W_r on V_r compare to W_r + V_r and W_r - V_r analysis of variances showed to be a more valid inductive method for testing the accuracy of the genetic model assumptions. Also, results of the Hayman and Jinks analysis, both when the assumptions are valid and when not, showed that genetic parameters are affected by the biasedness of the model, and that different estimates will be obtained. The Griffing's method was less affected by the unbiasedness of the model than Hayman and Jinks method. Therefore, it seems that preliminary testing for validity of the assumptions is necessary in Hayman and Jinks genetic model.

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Knowledge of the vegetative and reproductive characteristics of soybean cultivars with different growth habits and maturity groups is essential for the selection of a suitable variety as well as for providing optimum conditions for their growth. In 1994 in a field located in Kholenjan of Isfahan, Iran, nine indeterminate type cultivars belonging to different maturity groups, namely Williams, Wood Worth, Hack, Zane, Black Hawk, Bonus, Steel, S.R.F. and Harcor and one determinate cultivar belonging to maturity group III namely Hobbit, in a complete block design with four replications were evaluated. Indeterminate cultivars and higher maturity group cultivars produced more dry matter. On the whole, indeterminate cultivars with later maturity had longer main stem with more nodes, pods and grains. The determinate cultivar had more lateral branches, and more pods and grains in them but these traits did not show any specific trend in different maturity groups. Height of the first pod from ground surface in indeterminate cultivars was more than that of determinate cultivars. Number of pods per each node of main stem, number of grains per each pod of lateral branch and number of nodes per lateral branch showed no significant difference among cultivars. Classification of these cultivars based on the above characteristics showed that cultivars with different growth habits had basic differences and also that some cultivars showed some similarity to maturity groups which did not exist in the present study.

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This study addresses the methodology of studying spatial variability of soil salinity. The information used is based on a semi-detailed soil survey, followed by a free survey, conducted in Ramhormoz, Khuzestan. The study of soil salinity variations was carried out using about 600 sampling points with an average distance of 500 m, at three depths of 0-50, 50-100, and 100-150 cm. To determine the spatial variability of soil salinity at different depths, the variogram which is a statistical function for the spatial variability analysis of the geographical variables was used. The results indicate that all variograms show almost the same range of 12 - 13 km which is closely related to the geographical distribution of the soil parent materials in the area. Ordinary block kriging was used to map salinity at different depths for a block dimension of 500 × 500 m. A comparison between the kriged estimates and the soil salinity map, produced during the soil survey, showed that the overall similarity between the test data and the classified kriging estimates was 40%, while the overall agreement between the test data and the soil survey salinity map was 36%. A detailed similarity calculation showed that the reliability of the classified kriging estimates representing the lowest salinity classes (S0, S1) is larger (75%) than the reliability of the soil survey salinity map representing these classes (50%). Consequently, the results indicate that geostatistical tools can be used to support the present-day procedures of soil salinity mapping.

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Using multivariate statistical methods in evaluation of various traits in several genotypes has caused the discovery of different aspects of agronomic crops’ traits. In order to study diversity and interrelationships of yield and yield components of rapeseed, 36 genotypes of rapeseed were used in a 6 × 6 simple lattice design layout with two replications. Results of primary analysis of variance indicated that it was possible to analyze the dataset via randomized complete blocks design. In general, 13 traits, which were related to yield and yield components, were evaluated in this investigation. Results of dataset analysis showed that there was considerable variation among the genotypes. Seed yield of rapeseed had positive and significant correlation with 1000-seed weight, harvest index, number of secondary branches in plant and maturity period. In stepwise regression of yield with other traits, the 1000-seed weight and days to end of flowering described most of the variations of seed yield. Also, results of path analysis indicated that 1000-seed weight and days to end of flowering had direct and remarkable effect on seed yield. Cluster analysis and multivariate analysis of variance divided the genotypes into five distinct groups. Based on seed yield and 1000-seed weight, the genotypes of fifth cluster and according to highest number of pods per plant, the genotypes of third cluster were considerable. In general, the most important trait which affected seed yield of rapeseed was 1000-seed weight, which could be used for indirect selection of seed yield in segregating generations.

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Grain yield in wheat is influenced directly and indirectly by other plant characteristics. One of the main goals in wheat breeding programs is increase of grain yield. Considering the role of crop rotation in increasing grain yield, and in order to study the difference between crop rotations for wheat yield and yield components (Darya cultivar), an experiment was conducted with six rotation treatments (wheat-chickpea-wheat, wheat-cotton-wheat, wheat-watermelon-wheat, wheat-wheat-wheat, wheat-canola-wheat and wheat-sunflower-wheat), as a randomized complete blocks design with six replications, at Research Farm of Agricultural Research Station of Gonbad Kavous, Iran, during 2004 to 2008. Results showed that number of spikes per m-2, number of kernels per spike and mean kernel weight were important traits in all rotations. Also, selection of different traits could be changed depending on the experiment’s conditions, as in the wheat-wheat-wheat, wheat-watermelon-wheat and wheat-sunflower-wheat rotations the kernel weight, grain filling period and vegetative growth period are useful for indirect selection of breeding strategy while in wheat-canola-wheat and wheat-chickpea-wheat rotations the number of kernels per spike, number of spikes per m2, grain filling period and vegetative growth period are more important.

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Variability of seed storage protein electrophoretic patterns revealed by SDS-Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and their possible relations with some morphological and phenological characteristics were studied using 193 accessions from Iran Mungbean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) Collection. Seed protein electrophoresis revealed six different patterns that were different in two albumin and four globulin subunits with molecular weights of 23500-34000. Pattern types 1 and 2 had a considerable frequency but pattern types 3, 4, 5 and 6 had low frequencies and probably had developed recently in mungbean evolution process. Cluster analysis of countries and cities using the frequencies of albumin and globulin subunits showed no relation between geographical diversity and similarity distances. The correlations of morphological traits and albumin and globulin subunits indicated a relationship between G1 and G2 subunits with 1000 seed weight and days to beginning of maturity. Therefore, selection based on protein patterns at preliminary stages of breeding programs might be effective in increasing seed yield together with earliness.

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This study was conducted to evaluate the capability of reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) storage proteins, and their genetic variability in different winter and spring isolines, cultivars and landraces. Gliadin proteins were extracted from the flour of five randomly selected seeds of each genotype. In this method, Nucleosil C18 300 A column (250×4.6 mm ID), equipped with a guard column and acetonitrile containing TFA as mobile phase was used.

All selected conditions for RP-HPLC such as suitable velocity and resolution were sufficient to achieve the objectives of this study. Under these conditions, the number of gliadin components by RP-HPLC analysis was more than electrophoresis subunits. In addition, quantitative results of RP-HPLC facilitated the data analysis. Also gliadin analysis by RP-HPLC had a high potential in detecting rye (Secale cereale L.) genes, so that the presence of ω-secalins in the genome of Falat variety was easily detected. Therefore, it was concluded that RP-HPLC analysis of gliadin proteins is as efficient as electrophoresis, and could even replace it in some cases. The result of cluster analysis for gliadin polypeptides indicated the gradual increase of genetic variation from isolines to landraces. Generally speaking, among the landraces, Ali Abad, Aghda, Sefid Bafghi, Ghermez Bafghi, Shahdas and Sorkheh had greater genetic variations.

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Designers of hydraulic structures are often faced with the problem of estimating flood frequencies at stream sites, where little or no flow information is available. A regional regression model is widely used which relates physical and climatological parameters to flow characteristics. In this study, a new method is used which is based on the station-year technique and combined records for several stream-flow gaging stations to make a single composite sample. This method, named ‘hybrid’, was proposed by Hjalmarson and Thomas (1992). It was applied to a group of records from 17 apparently homogeneous stream gaging stations to determine regional flood frequency equations. The study area consists of two adjacent basins, Gavkhoony and North Karoon in the central part of Iran. Using area and mean elevation of the catchments as the most important criteria in relation to peak discharge, the interactive process of the hybrid method was performed, resulting in two-parameter models of regional flood frequency. The performance of the hybrid method was evaluated by comparison with the regional relations determined from a multivariate regression. The comparison revealed that the accuracy of the hybrid method was significantly better than the regression method for low return periods.

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In order to study the genetic variation among local varieties of onion in Iran, an experiment was conducted in the Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Tabriz University. Sixteen populations were evaluated for agronomic characteristics and also total seed proteins via SDS-PAGE. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis were used to group the onion populations under study.

 Analysis of variance showed significant differences among varieties for leaf color, leaf length, texture tightness, onion yield per plant, and number of edible layers. No significant differences were observed for the number of twin onions, bulb diameter, and onion dry weight. Hamadan (98-148), Arak (98-95, 98-96, 98-97, 98-103), and Zanjan (98-223) populations acquired the highest onion yield per plant. The significant differences between populations for the majority of characteristics proved the existence of genetic variation in the Iranian onion germplasm. The results from cluster analysis for agronomic characteristics were the same as those from the cluster analysis for the onion yield per plant. The 16 populations were divided into 4 groups. Cluster analysis for the electrophoresis banding pattern resulted in two groups, which was not similar to the dendrogram of agronomic traits. Using principal component analysis, the first principal components determined 97.57% of the total variation. Onion yield per plant was the most important trait in the first principal component and onion dry weight was the second trait in the rank.

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  conditions. Thus, these varieties could be suitable option for yield increase and an effective step toward food security. Selection of parental lines has essential role in developing ideal combinations. Therefore, it is essential to study the relationship and genetic diversity among parental lines in hybrid rice. Sixteen hybrid rice parental lines including 6 restorer lines (Poya, Sepidrud, Pajohesh, R2, R9 and IR50) and 5 CMS lines (Neda, Nemat, Dasht, Champa and Amol 3) with their 5 maintainers were studied at Research Farm of Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University during 2011. Analysis of variance showed significant variations for all of the studied traits, which shows great diversity among the genotypes. The number of fertile tillers and length to width ratio of grain showed positive and significant correlation with yield. But, grain width showed negative and significant correlation with yield. Results of principal component analysis revealed that 3 components explained 75.64% of the total variations. Cluster analysis at 15 genetic distance criteria grouped genotypes in 4 clusters. In exploration of heterosis phenomenon, parents must be far away from each other. So, the results of this study suggested crosses between CMS lines of Neda A, Nemat A and Champa A with each of restorer lines R9, R2, IR50 and Poya for experimental hybrid seed production.

 

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Littele is known about the relationships of different traits in safflower using wild and cultivated species. In this study, 46 safflower genotypes from five different species were evaluated under normal and deficit irrigation and the relationship of traits was assessed. Results showed that water stress had significant effect on head yield per plant, number of seeds per head, head diameter and 1000-seed weight but didn’t have significant effect on other traits. Positive and significant phenotypic correlations were observed among seed yield per plant with oil percent, number of heads per plant, head diameter, head yield per plant and number of seeds per head for both irrigation regimes, which were confirmed by genetic correlations. Based on stepwise regression, number of seeds per head justified the majority of seed yield variation for both stress and non-stress conditions. However, under normal conditions, the number of traits entered into the model and the justified variation was more than moisture stress conditions. Path analysis showed that number of heads per plant had the highest direct effect on seed yield in non-stress conditions and can be used to indirectly improve seed yield in safflower. Under stress conditions, number of seeds per head had the highest direct effect on seed yield. Factor analysis revealed four factors which explained more than 82 and 85 percent of variance in non-stress and stress conditions, respectively. These factors were named the sink, plant morphology, oil and economical factor in non-stress conditions. Under stress conditions, the factors were named the economical factor, plant morphology, sink and seed weight. The relationships between traits discussed in this study can be exploited in indirect selection to improve the important traits of safflower (such as seed yield and oil content) economically, through traits with higher heritability, with emphasis on wild germplasm.

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One component of integrated weed management is use of cultivars with high competitive ability against weeds. Balance between competitiveness and productivity of rice under condition of presence or absence of weeds, is complicated the breeding of rice cultivars to increase competitiveness against weeds. Path coefficient analysis has been widely used in crop breeding to determine the nature of relationships between the grain yield (GY) and its contributing components. To study the weed-suppressive ability by rice, an experimental was conducted in a randomized complete block design with four replications in Chprsr, Tonekabon Rice Research Station at 2009. The experimental treatments include seven varieties (Daylamani, Khazar, Sepeedrud, Neamat, Dorfak, Fajr and Shiroodi) and three lines (830, 841 and 843) of rice that were cultured in the presence of barnyard grass. The results of path analysis showed ability withstands competition (AWC), thousand grain weight (THGW), fertile tiller number m-2 (FT), filled grain number panicle-1 (FG) and competitive index (CI) as the first-order variables for GY. The traits such as specific leaf area of rice at 25 days after transplanting (Rsla25), ear length (EL), Filled grain percentage (FGP), specific leaf area of rice at heading stage (RslaHD) were as the second-order variables for GY and influenced positively this response variable. Dry weight of barnyard grass biomass was negatively correlated with CI and RslaHD. However, these traits have a positive effect on grain yield, but fertile tiller number and specific leaf area at heading stage are measurable before maturity of grain. Thus, select of cultivar with high grain yield is possible before heading of grain, through these two traits. The variety of Shiroodi and line of 843 with highest value of specific leaf area at 25 days after transplanting and heading stage, high ability withstands competition and competitive index have a high capacity to compete with barnyard grass and can be considered as a suitable cultivar in selection processes and are also used as crosses parents.

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Astracantha adscendens is an endemic species in Iran growing on alpine and above alpine timberline habitats on the Zagross Mountain Range. These habitats are characterized by steep slopes, heavy snowfalls and long ice formation periods. The present study was carried out in Chelgerd, Bakhtiari, and Fereidan, Isfahan. Slopes, elevation above sea-level, and magnetic north azimuth were measured. The canopy cover was also measured along four radii in upward, downward, left and right directions. Regression analysis was performed for the measured values of plant and environmental factors.

The results revealed that the upward radius had a high negative correlation with slope changes while the downward radius showed no relationship with slope variations. The two left and right radii had a high and positive relationship with each other, both reducing in length as the slope steepness increased. Shrub volume decreases with increasing slope steepness. Plant shape was classified into seven groups using Sorenson similarity index and constructing the dendrogram. Snow pressure bends the stem toward the soil surface. Snow gliding pressure scratches stem and its base buds above the bent stem. Soil and debris move downward the slope as a result of snow gliding and rainfall runoff as well as wildlife and domestic animals. Snow gliding along with other natural factors have various effects on A. adscendens plant form which can be grouped under three categories: direct mechanical effect of snow, physiological effect of snow, and indirect effect of precipitation and wildlife. The environmental factors and plant physiological responses to them change the A. adscendens plant form from a funnel or ob-conical shape to a semi-funnel or semi ob-conical form.

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In order to study the tolerance mechanism of spring bread cultivars to wild oat competition, an experiment was conducted in research farm of Ramin Agricultural and Natural Resources University of Khouzestan as strip block with three replications during 2010-2011 growing season. Experimental factors were wild oat densities includ 0 (as control) and 80 plant/m2 as horizontal plots and ten wheat cultivars include Chamran (Atila), Baz, Atrak, Arvand, Maroon, Shoeleh, Chenab, Veree/Nak and Falat (Seri 82) as vertical plots. By using competition index, cultivars divided in four groups of mid-susceptible, medium, mid-tolerant and tolerant. Also modeling of competition of wheat cultivars with wild oat, between measured traits, trait of weed biomass has highest direct reduction effect (-0.609) on competition index. Also, wheat traits such as grain number in spikelet has highest direct reduction effect (0.498) and death plant percent has highest indirect reduction effect (-0.307) on competition effect. But wheat biomass although indirect increase effect by effect on weed biomass and thousand grains weight of wheat, has highest direct and positive effect (-0.395) on competition index. Other effective trait was thousand grain weight of wheat that by direct and positive effect (0.270) resulted in increase in competition effect of cultivars.

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In order to evaluate cold tolerance of twenty barley genotypes under field conditions, an experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design at 3 sowing dates of October 5, November 5, and December 5 in Saatlu Agricultural Research Station, West Azarbaijan, Iran, during 2010-11 seasons. Also, another experiment was conducted on the same genotypes based on a completely randomized design under greenhouse conditions. in wich Cold stress was applied up to -25°C at two, four and six leaf development stages. LT50, ion leakage and dry matter were measured and apex photographed. Field experiment results showed the lowest significant differences at p≤0.05 between different levels of sowing date, genotype, and interaction between them for plant height, spike/m2, kernel per spike, 1000-kernel weight, grain yield and total dry matter. Genotypes of winter growth type had higher grain yield (4250kg/ha) than those with spring growth type (4190kg/ha). There were significant differences for ion leakage and dry matter at 4 and 6 leaf development stages under greenhouse conditions. Genotype 1 (winter growth type) with lowest values of range and standard deviation for grain yield, total dry matter and LT50 = -38 °C showed a relatively low ion leakage. In contrast, genotypes 5, 10 and 14 (spring growth type) were identified sensitive to cold stress due to having more values of range, standard deviation for grain yield and total dry matter, LT50 = -18 to -27 °C and ion leakage from 25 to 33µS/m. Regression analysis showed 1000-kernel weight and total dry matter to remain at final model. Cluster analysis indicated that genotypes 2, 18, 1, 17 and 19 were superior genotypes. In principal component analysis, four components showed 80% of total variations, and the first component with 26% of variation was an important yield component for improving grain yield of barley genotypes. In conclusion, grain yields of winter and spring barley genotypes were affected by different planting dates.

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In order to determine grain yield stability and yield components in durum wheat, 49 genotypes from International Durum Yield Nursery (IDYN), received from International Research Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) with one cultivar as check, were studied in an alpha lattice design with two replications at five locations including Karaj, Darab, Neishabour, Khorramabd and Gonbad. Grain yield stability analysis with AMMI and SHMM models revealed that four genotypes including 3, 10, 11 and 25 lines were more stable genotypes in this study. Based on AMMI model, Karaj station with high and negative loading of the first principal component and Khorramabad with high and positive loading of the first principal component, PCA1, did not display adaptability with any genotypes in this study. SHMM model revealed that the pattern of genotype clustering was a function of stability and adaptability of genotypes in the study locations. Path analysis revealed that the direct effect of biomass and harvest index on grain yield was high and significant. Among yield components, the number of spike per square meter showed high and positive direct effect on grain yield.

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To determine gene action and heritability of grain yield related traits in rice, six rice varieties including Hashemi, Vandana, Kadous, Hassani, Shahpasand and IR36 were crossed in a diallel design in 2010. The parents and seeds of F1 generation (36 genotypes) were grown in a completely randomized block design with three replications at the Research Field of the Rice Research Institute of Iran-Rasht in 2011. In this experiment, the yield related traits including grain yield, number of panicles per plant, number of spikelet’s per panicle, 1000-grain weight, plant height, panicle length and flag leaf area were measured in each experimental unit. Evaluation of the gene action based on the Hayman graphical method indicated that 1000-grain weight was controlled by partial dominance effect and the other attributes were controlled by complete dominance to over-dominance effects. Broad-sense heritability varied from 54.91% to 99.84% for flag leaf area and plant height, respectively and narrow-sense heritability ranged from 26.04% to 88.68% for panicle length and 1000-grain weight, respectively. Results of this research showed that the additive gene effect can be used to improve several traits including 1000-grain weight, but utilizing the heterosis phenomenon and hybrid production is recommended to improve the remaining traits in the studied population.

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Flood is one of the catastrophic events that has attracted the hydrologists’ attention. In this research one of the important flood indices, i.e. maximum-daily mean-discharge, was determined for several western Iran watersheds, namely, in the catchments of Gamasiab, Qarasou, Saimare, Kashkan, Sezar and Abshineh. Daily data were prepared from stream-gauging stations and a 30-year concurrent period was selected.

 Flood frequency analysis was performed using HYFA and TR computer programs and optimum distributions were chosen by goodness of fit tests. Extreme flow values having different return periods of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 years were calculated. Modeling was done with regional analysis using multiple regression technique between maximum-daily mean-discharge and physiographic characteristics of the basins. The most important parameter for the selection of the model was the adjusted coefficient of determination while significant level, standard error and observed discharger vs. computed discharge plot acted as controlling parameters. Finally, different models with different parameters were selected from power, exponential, linear and logarithmic forms. The results showed the power model to be the best among the four types. The main channel length, drainage density and time of concentration were the most effective parameters on flow. After analyzing the errors, it appeared that increasing the return period would cause an increase in the model error. At 1000-year return period, the error reached 32.2%.

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In order to evaluate the morphological and agronomic characteristics of 19 land races of onions and one foreign cultivar (Yellow Sweet Spanish), an experiment was conducted in 1998 at the Research Farm of the College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology.

 Analysis of variance showed significant differences among genotypes for all of the morphological and agronomic traits. Dry weight and number of days to emergence had the highest and lowest coefficients of genetic variability, respectively. Plant fresh weight, yield of 30 plants and total yield also had high coefficients of variability. Broad sense heritability estimates were high for all of the traits, indicating low environmental affects them. Based on cluster analysis and plot of the first two canonical variables, the genotypes were classified in four groups with different agronomic traits. Canonical discriminant analysis based on nine agronomic traits introduced three canonical variables which justified 99.9 percent of the total variation among characters. Principal component analysis revealed four components while factor analysis showed three factors which explained 87.3 and 95.5 percent of the total variation among characters, respectively. The first and second factors were related to adaptation and assimilate translocation, respectively. Bulb diameter, bulb height and bulb weight in positive directions and sensitivity to Fusarium in negative direction had greater loads in the third factor.

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To determine the relationships between yield and its components, and to find the direct and indirect effects of yield-related traits on soybean yield, 240 genotypes were grown in the Research Station, College of Agriculture, Karaj, Iran, in 1997-98 using an augmented design. The study of correlation analysis showed that number of seeds per plant and seed yield per plant had the highest significant correlation coefficient (r=0.92). Other significant correlation coefficients were found between biomass per plant and yield (r=0.86) and between number of pods per plant and yield (r=0.67). Results of stepwise regression analysis revealed that number of seeds per plant, seed weight, and number of seeds per pod were the three major traits affecting seed yield in soybean. However, path analysis showed that only two of the three above-mentioned traits, namely, number of seeds per plant and seed weight, are quite important for soybean selection programs. Stepwise regression analysis was used again, omitting number of seeds per plant, which showed that number of pods per plant, seed weight, plant height and number of days to 90% maturity, are important contributors to yield. Path analysis, this time, revealed that the correlation effects to plant height and number of days to 90% maturity on yield is due to the indirect effects exerted through other traits. It is concluded that three traits, namely, number of seeds per plant, seed weight and number of pods per plant have notable effects on soybean seed yield.