Rice is an extensively consumed cereal crop, which serves as a major source of carbohydrate in human diet. Rice cultivation requires more than 50% of the total irrigation water used for agriculture. Therefore saving irrigation water without much compromising with grain yield in rice cultivation is an important global agenda. In the present study the relevance of several drought tolerance traits in improving grain yield of rice under aerobic condition is studied. Analysis of variance indicated significant genetic variability among all plant traits. Grain yield was significantly correlated with root volume, root weight, total biomass total leaf area and Delta 13C. Path analysis indicated that root traits like root length and root weight positive direct effect on grain yield. Above ground traits like SLA, TDM, and TLA had direct positive direct effects on grain yield. The direct of Delta 13C on grain yield was negligible. Root length had highest positive indirect effect on grain yield via root volume. These results indicated that root play a pivotal role in improving grain yield. Yield displayed highest H 2BS, where as ? 13C displayed moderate heritability among the germplasm accessions.
