Study on the exploitation of heterosis in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the expression of heterosis for ten characters in forty five crosses of sesame developed by crossing five lines with nine testers in line x tester mating design. The analysis of variance (line x tester) revealed significant differences among the genotypes for all the characters studied except for number of secondary branches. Heterosis was worked out over midparent, better parent and standard parents viz., CO 1 and TMV 7. The cross TMV 5 x ORM 7 expressed significant and positive heterosis over mid parent, better parent and two standard varieties for single plant yield along with high per se performance. The crosses, TMV 5 x ORM 7, TMV 6 x VRI 1 and TMV 3 x CO 1 expressed highly significant standard heterosis for most of the traits including single plant yield and hence could be exploited for development of high yielding varieties.

Keywords

• sesame
• seed yield
• relative heterosis
• heterobeltiosis
• standard heterosis