Yield potential evaluation and path analysis of different sesame genotypes under various levels of iron

Abstract

In order to evaluate yield potential of different genotypes of sesame under different levels of iron micronutrient and determinate the most effective traits on the yield, the experiment was carried out as split plot based on randomized complete block design at Jiroft during 2008. Treatments consisted of three levels of Fe fertilizer (chalet 138) (0, 5 and 10 kg/ha) as the main factor and different genotypes of sesame (Markazi, Shahrbabak, Birjand, Dezfoul, Jiroft, Sirjan, Gorgan, Ardestan and Orzouyeh landraces) as the sub factor. Traits such as plant height, number of stem per plant, number of capsules per plant, number of capsules per main stem, capsule length, and number of seeds per capsule, weight of 1000-seed, seed yield, biological yield and harvest index were studied. Different statistical analysis such as ANOVA, correlation and path coefficient analyses were used. According to results ANOVA, genotypes were significantly different for all traits and Jiroft genotype was considered as the best one for cultivation at this region. Except 1000-seed weight, Fe micronutrient had no significant effect on understudied traits, also the interaction of fertilizer and genotype was not significant. It was concluded that the fertilizer did not have effective role on yield of studied genotypes. Seed yield showed highly positive and significant correlation with plant height, capsule length, number of seeds per capsule, 1000-seed weight, number of stem and biological yield (p<0.01) and positive significant correlation with number of capsules per plant (p<0.05). Based on path analysis, seeds number per capsule had the highest positive direct effect on seed yield and can be considered as a criterion for improving seed yield in breeding programs. Key words: Sesame, Fe micronutrient, yields potential, path analysis.