Using path analysis in order to determine how some morphological variables of lentil (Lens cullinaris Medik.) affect yield

VI SUMMARY This study has been carried out on lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) in order to determine how some morphological variables of lentil affect yield by using Path Analysis technique and it has been tried to interpret the results obtained by this method. As it is known, Path Analysis is a technique that decomposes correlation between variables and devides correlations into direct, indirect and other effects. Path Analysis serves a necessary contribution to determine cause and effect between variables and to interprete relations among variables. Mathematical background of the method has been described and clarified so as to be understandable and interpretable for all researchers in different areas by taking Path Analysis relation to Correlation and Multiple Regression Method into consideration. Also, it has been tried to explain how the results of Path Analysis being interpreted. An application of Path Analysis has been performed on lentil yield as an example by means of some morphological variables of lentil and the obtained results have been interpreted in detail. Direct, indirect and other effects of the morphological variables have been determined and the effects were interpreted for each morphlogical variable. As a result, it has been found that branch number variable significantly affects lentil yield. On the other hand, seed number causes to increase branch number. In order to increase lentil yield, first of all, it must be determined whether variability of these two variables essentially originated from ecological or genetic factors. The determination is important to increase lentil yield. Also the results of this study show that it would be more reasonable to utilize multivariate statistical methods instead of bivariates, because sometimes bivariate methods may cause misleading results or desicions.