Genetic Analysis of Agronomic Traits in Safflower (Carthamus tinctorious L.)

Abstract

Genetics of agronomic traits in safflower was determined using 6×6 full diallel population. Data were recorded on days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, primary branches per plant, head diameter, number of heads per plant, number of seeds per head, 1000-seed weight and seed yield per plant. Variance components showed that days to maturity and heads per plant were largely controlled by dominance gene effects, whereas 1000-seed weight, plant height and seeds per head were governed by additive type of gene action. The results also revealed both additive and non-additive types of gene actions for remaining traits. The significant mean squares of reciprocal crosses for days to flowering, head diameter, number of seeds per head, 1000-seed weight and seed yield per plant suggested that maternal inheritance also played an important role in the inheritance of these traits. Significant general combining ability for yield revealed that genetic improvement through accumulation of desirable alleles from parents in the target genotype using appropriate selection methods would be desirable in safflower.