Selection Criteria for Improvement in Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

Pakistan is facing severe scarcity of edible oil and spending a huge amount of foreign exchange on its annual import. Sesame is the best option as an edible oilseed crop due to less water requirement. Various statistical analyses are used to test the contribution of different yield related traits for developing high yield potential cultivars. Correlation analysis illustrates the association among different yield related traits exist in plant population under study. Genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variability reveal the extent of differences among the accessions, due to the genetic factors and their response to environmental condition of the experiment. Path coefficient analysis reveals the relationship between variables in multivariable system is considered. Previous studies of various sesame breeders proved that plant height, number of branches per plant, capsules per plant, seeds per capsules, 1000-seed weight are the traits which have significant and positive correlations with yield per plant at both genotypic and phenotypic levels. These characters also have high path analysis values especially capsules per plant had highest direct effect on seed yield followed by 1000-seed weight. So, these traits may be used as selection criteria in future breeding programs for the improvement of seed yield of sesame