QUANTITATIVE-EVALUATION OF LINUM-USITATISSIMUM VARIETIES FOR DUAL-PURPOSE TRAITS

New uses of natural fibres in industrial processes have increased the demand for linseed fibre which is normally discarded. In this investig ation, 18 linseed and 10 flax varieties are evaluated for 13 developme ntal, seed yield and fibre yield traits with a view to identifying sui table genotypes which may have high yields of both seed and fibre, and therefore can be used as dual-purpose varieties and/or are likely to provide a suitable foundation for breeding new cultivars with an abili ty to produce high yields for seed as well as fibre. Comparison of lin seed and flax varieties has revealed that the two plant types have div ersified to a great extent, particularly for those traits which have b een subjected to direct or indirect selection during the past decades. However, considerable variation still exists among the linseed and fl ax varieties, and linseed shows more heritable variation than flax, fo r both seed and fibre traits. On the other hand, persistent selection of linseed and flax for commercially desirable phenotypes has not modi fied the genetic correlations to any appreciable level and both crops display almost identical correlations which do not differ significantl y for any pair of traits. None of the flax or linseed varieties has sh own such outstanding performance for seed yield as well as fibre weigh t which would have allowed them to be considered suitable for cultivat ion as a dual-purpose variety. In general, linseed x linseed and linse ed x flax crosses would constitute better source materials for breedin g high yielding dual-purpose cultivars compared to flax x flax crosses , particularly when seed will be the primary commercial product and fi bre/straw a secondary commodity of such varieties.