Germination, Growth and Yield Performance of Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) Under Gamma Irradiation Stress

Abstract

Abstract Gamma irradiation is a widely manipulated mutation breeding approach in agriculture for producing crops with desired agronomic traits. The technique is particularly advantageous to conventional breeding methods because of minimal labor and time requirement. Under laboratory and field experiments during 2013, seeds of Linum usitatissimum L. were irradiated with 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28 and 32 krad of gamma irradiation doses from Co-60 source for evaluating their effects on germination, seedling survival, radicle and plumule lengths, vegetative growth and productivity. It was noted that radiation doses caused significant changes in the studied traits of test plant. Germination, radicle and plumule lengths in lab study while shoot length, number of leaves and leaf area, number of fruits plant−1, number of seeds fruit−1, husk weight fruit−1, number of branches plant−1, fresh and dry biomass and moisture content of shoots under pot culture varied significantly under the applied radiation stress. In general, radiation doses up to 8 kr had stimulatory effects on the studied parameters while doses exceeding 8 kr negatively influenced germination, growth and productive attributes of flax. Results observed both stimulatory and inhibitory effects of the irradiation doses. The study suggests that radiation doses above 32 krad induced lethal effects on general growth of flax.