Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance estimates for morphological and quantitative traits in M4 generation of Safflower [Carthamus tinctorius (L.)]

Abstract

The current research was performed at the experimental farm of All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Safflower, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani. (M.S.), during Rabi, 2022-23. In M4 generation, the trial material comprised of forty selected progenies from M3 and two standard checks, which was assessed using an Augmented Block Design. The analysis of variance, was conducted for the M4 generation considering various traits including days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height (cm), number of primary branches per plant, number of capsules per plant, number of seeds per capsule, 100-seed weight (g), oil content (%), and seed yield per plant (g) result indicated statistical significance for each of the examined traits. This implies that there is enough variability present among the genotypes and their respective component traits. Most of the traits like plant height, number of seeds per capsule, 100-seed weight, oil content and yield per plant exhibited high PCV, GCV, heritability, and genetic advance. This suggests that genetic factors primarily influence these traits, and they are highly responsive to environmental conditions. For such traits, selection would be effective to bring about genetic improvement in desired way.