Assessment of selection criteria using multi-year study for effective breeding program of Zingiber officinale L.

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed considerable differences among the studied germplasm for studied characters, revealing sufficient variability in the materials. The Mahalanobis D and Tocher methods grouped the 150 ginger germplasm into ten clusters. Based on the results of the path coefficient analysis determined for essential oil yield and rhizome yield per plant, it can be concluded that the characters' initial rhizome weight, the weight of mother rhizome, and weight of secondary rhizome were the most important and appeared promising in improving the overall yield potential of ginger rhizome and essential oil yield. Thus, selection based on the identified traits would lead to an effective ginger breeding program for higher rhizome and essential oil yield.