GENETIC-STUDIES ON SEEDLING VIGOR IN SESAME

Genetic studies were carried out on seedling and agronomic characters amongst 50 sesame genotypes to estimate the genetic variation, determi ne the relationships amongst the characters and identify rapidly growi ng genotypes with vigorous seedling growth. The contribution of geneti c variance was highest for the two mature characters, days to first fl ower (95.6%) and number of nodes to first flower (95.2%), and was medi um/high (50-75%) for most of the seedling characters. Strong positive genetic correlations were obtained between various cotyledon and early leaf characteristics measured at 20 days after sowing. Based on these results several genotypes were identified as having rapid seedling gr owth and these could form an initial gene pool to provide material for screening for tolerance to sesame flea beetle.