Variation of yield, yield components and oil content and yield-related characters in sesame

ABSTRACT VARIATION OF YIELD, YIELD COMPONENTS AND OIL CONTENT AND YffiLD-RELATED CHARACTERS IN SESAME Bülent UZUN M.S. Thesis in Department of Field Crops Adviser: Prof. Dr. M. İlhan ÇAĞHIGAN December 1997, 43 Pages This study was carried out to determine the per se agronomic performance variance components, heritabilities, and relationships between yield and yield related characters in a population of twenty sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) cultivars with different growth habit during the summer of 1996. This material was grown in a Randomised Complete Blocks Design with two replications. The data were obtained on seed yield per plant, number of capsules per plant, seed yield per capsule, 1000-seed weight, stem height to the first capsule, plant height and seed oil content. Variance analysis, Duncan's Multiple New Range Test, and orthogonal contrast comparisons were applied to the data. In addition, broad-sense heritabilities were estimated for each characters measured. Relationships between yield and yield components were determined by simple correlation coefficients. Correlation coefficients between yield and yield components were partitioned into the direct and indirect effects by path-coefficient analysis to determine relative importance of the yield components on seed yield. It was found that the ZZM-0830 line originated from China was generally superior to the standard cultivar Muganh-57 for each characters measured. Stem height to the first capsule had the highest heritability with a value of 77% and seed yield per plant with a value of 38% was of the lowest heritability. The result of correlation and path-coefficient analysis showed that number of capsules per plant had the largest effect on sesame seed yield. Hence, it should be considered as selection criterion in a breeding program aiming at improving sesame seed yield capacity. KEY WORDS: Sesame, variance components, heritability, correlation, path- coefficients COMMITTEE: Prof. Dr. M. İlhan ÇAĞIRGAN Prof. Dr. Metin B. YILDIRIM Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sadık ÇAKMAKÇI