Strong Undesirable Linkages Between Seed Yield and Oil Components–A Problem in Safflower Improvement

 I.I. Bagawan and R.L. Ravikumar

Abstract

            A combination of number of capitula per plant, capitulum diameter, number of seeds per capitulum, and test weight constitute the most desirable plant type in safflower.  However, the strong negative associations between these desirable traits are major problems for the improvement of safflower.  An attempt has been made in the present study to change the magnitude and directions of such negative associations through diverse hybridization, mutagenesis of homozygous parental lines and heterozygous hybrids.  The study of 10 segregating populations comprising of F₂ /F₂M₂ /M₂ revealed that number of capitula per plant and test weight are the most important characters for seed yield.  These two traits were negatively associated with capitulum diameter and seed number, confirming earlier results.  In general there were no major shifts in negative associations between desirable traits in any of the populations. However, there were some desirable changes in character associations due to mutations depending on the genetic architecture of the trait, mutagen and genotype.  Depending on the changes, the populations are to be carefully selected for developing a desirable plant type.

 Key words: Safflower, mutation, homozygous, heterozygous, correlation.