Creating Variability in Sunflower (Helianthus annuusL.) using Induced Mutation

The study was conducted to assess the effect of chemical mutagen (dimethyl sulphate) in creating variability in sunflower to improve the growth and yield productivity of the sunflower. Three different sunflower varieties (SAMSUN 1, SAMSUN 3, and SAMSUN 4) were collected from the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Zaira, Kaduna State. They were exposed to T1/0.25%, T2/0.50%, T3/0.75% and T4/1.00% of dimethyl sulphate for 3hrs. The treatments with control were laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) in three replications in the research garden of the Department of Botany Federal University of Lafia, during the cropping season of 2021/2022. Observation and data were collected for some growth and yield parameters such as days to 50% germination on 15th day, days to flowering, number of leaves, plant height(cm), stem diameter (cm), head diameter (cm), seed yield per plot (g), seed yield per plant (g), 100-seed weight (g), seed volume weight (g/100 ml), hull content (%).The data collected were subjected to a two way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using Genstat Discovery Edition Version 12.1 software and LSD (Least Significant Difference) was used to separate mean difference at P ≤ 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that SAMSUN 1 variety had the highest plant height (171.7cm) at T1, seed yield per plant (41.9g) at T2 and hull content (34.71%) at T1. The SAMSUN 3 variety proved to be superior for number of leaves (18.93) at T4 and head diameter (24.91cm) at T2 while SAMSUM 4 performed better for parameter like 50% germination at 15 [(DAS) (50.0%)] at T4, earliest days to first flowering (50.27) at T4, seed yield per plant (438.1kgha-) at T2, seed volume weight (33.4g/100ml) at T3 and 100-seed weight (8.02g) at T2. The correlation coefficient showed both positively and negatively significant correlation between the growth and yield parameters. The highest positive significant correlation was observed between stem girth and head diameter (0.816) and the highest negative significant correlation was between seed volume weight and head diameter (-0.484).