Abstract

A study was undertaken to assess the utility of inbred lines as parents in the heterosis breeding in Sunflower by adopting Line X Tester analysis. The per se performance of the parents and hybrids revealed that the hybrids in general were superior to the parents for 11 characters studied. Combining ability analysis revealed the preponderance of non- additive gene action for all the characters. The lines CMS 5A. CMS IA and CMS 86 A3 and the testers MH 10, MH 20 and MH 12 recorded the highest GCA for most of the yield attributes. The inbreds CMS 1 A. CMS 86 A3. MH 10m MH 20 showed high GCA and mean values. Similarly in hybrids the SCA and mean expressions were high for the crosses CMS 290 A x MII 20, CMS 86 A3 x MII 2, CMS 86 A3 x MH 10 and CMS I Ax MH 1.

Keywords: Sunflower, Per Se, Combining ability, Inbreds