GENETIC STUDIES FOR THE EXPLOITATION OF HETEROSIS IN SESAME (Sesamum indicum L.)

Heterosis breeding is a potential technique to improve yields in sesame. Twenty-four diverse sesame genotypes were used as male parents and highly adoptable 3 local varieties were used as female parents. Thirty-eight hybrids were produced during rabi, 2013 and were evaluated along with parents and 3 checks during summer, 2014 in Randomized Block Design at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Polasa, Jagtial, India. The data was recorded for 8 biometrical traits viz., days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height, number of primary branches per plant, number of capsules per plant, capsule length and number of seeds per capsule, 1000-seed weight and seed yield per plant. In this study, highly significant differences were recorded among sesame hybrids for all the traits studied. Further, 2 hybrids Swethathil x VS 07-023 and Swethathil x JL SEL 05-3 had recorded highest standard heterosis of 13.40% and 10.70% respectively. The same hybrids recorded statistically significant superior seed yield per plant ie., 28.7 g and 28.0 g respectively. These potential crosses can be utilized for further breeding program to develop potential purelines.