Abstract

                                The experimental study was undertaken in the Wild species garden and Oilseeds farm at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, during Rabi’ 2021 to know the association between yield and its component traits in cultivated and wild species of Sesame. Nine varieties of Sesamum indicum and three wild species, namely Sesamum alatum, Sesamum malabaricum, and Sesamum radiatum were assessed for eight quantitative traits namely plant height, the number of branches per plant, days to first flowering, the number of capsules per plant, the number of seeds per capsule, capsule length, thousand seed weight and yield per plant. The correspondence among the cultivated and wild species of Sesame was explicated over the heatmap in which cultivated varieties of Sesamum indicum were categorized under three clusters and wild species into two clusters. Correlation analysis revealed that seed yield per plant emphasizes a positive and high significant correlation with a number of capsules per plant and thousand seed weight. Path analysis delineated that number of capsules per plant had a high positive direct effect on yield followed by a less positive direct effect on thousand seed weight and a number of branches, while thousand seed weight has high positive indirect effect on seed yield per plant via number of capsules per plant. It can be concluded that the traits, namely number of branches, number of capsules and thousand seed weight recorded both significant positive correlation and high direct effect on single plant yield. Therefore, the selection process prioritizing these traits with higher values would be rewarding in Sesame crop improvement breeding program.

Key words : Sesame; Correlation; Coefficient; Path Analysis; Number of Capsules