Study of Genetic Diversity and Relationships between Agronomic Traits in Large Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Germplasm Collection

Author: Usha Kiran B., Dinesh Kumar V. and Uma A.

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Abstract

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), a member of the family Compositae, is a multi-purpose crop for oil, medicative and industrial uses. Despite its importance, safflower production and productivity are constrained by the low yielding varieties, poor cultural conditions and susceptible to biotic and abiotic stresses. The objective of the present study is to establish the level of genetic diversity of 315 germplasm accessions of safflower for major agronomic traits from 21 countries along with 5 released varieties. The data was recorded for 9 agronomic traits for two seasons. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences for the quantitative traits measured indicating the existence of wide genetic variation among the accessions. The accessions clustered into seven groups and there was no clear grouping of accessions according to their geographical origin probably due to gene flow. Correlation studies revealed thatnumber of branches per plant (r=0.29**), number of capitula per plant (0.51**), number of seeds per capitula (0.35*), 100-seed weight (0.10*) and hull content (0.19*) are significantly positive correlated with seed yield per plant. The results indicated a large genetic diversity among the accessions evaluated and the correlation studies established that wide diversity in the crop and it is possible to increase the seed yield and oil content. The promising germplasm accessions identified could be useful in future safflower breeding programs.

Keywords

Safflower, Genetic diversity, Agronomic traits, Correlation

Conclusion

A comprehensive diversity analysis for nine agronomic traits was taken up with 315 safflower germplasm accessions representing 21 countries. Our results showed significant diversity among the genotypes for most of the agronomic traits studied. The findings suggest that the economic traits can be efficiently improved by exercising appropriate recombination breeding approaches and selection procedures in this important oilseed crop. Cluster analysis based on ward minimum variance grouped the germplasm into seven distinct groups, with geographical origin of the germplasm not having any bearing on the categorization. Promising germplasm accessions identified for the traits can be exploited in future breeding programs for increase of seed oil yield.

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How to cite this article

Usha Kiran B., Dinesh Kumar V. and Uma A. (2023). Study of Genetic Diversity and Relationships between Agronomic Traits in Large Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Germplasm Collection. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(4): 479-486.