Genetic variability estimates for quantitative traits in m5 generation of safflower [Carthamus tinctorius (L.)]

The current research was performed at the experimental farm of All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Safflower, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani. (M.S.), during rabi, 2023-24. In M5 generation, the trial material comprised of forty selected progenies from M4 and four standard checks, which was assessed using an Randomized Block Design. The analysis of variance, was conducted for the M5 generation considering various traits including days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height (cm), number of primary branches per plant, number of capitula per plant, number of seeds per capitulum, 100-seed weight (g), hull content (%), volume weight (g/lit), oil content (%), and seed yield per plant (g) result indicated statistical significance for each of the examined traits. This implies that there is enough variability present among the mutants and their respective component traits. Most of the traits like number of seeds per capitulum, number of primary branches per plants, seed yield per plant and number of capitula per plant exhibited high PCV, GCV, heritability, and genetic advance. This suggests that genetic factors primarily influence these traits, and they are highly responsive to environmental conditions. For such traits, selection would be effective to bring about genetic improvement in desired way.