GT 7: High yielding, high oil content and bold seeded variety of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

A high yielding genotype of sesame SKT 1501 was evolved from cross between RT 334 and GT 3 at Castor-Mustard Research Station, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar and identified for release as Gujarat Til 7 (Banas Gaurav) for Gujarat state. The genotype SKT 1501 was identified owing to its superior performance in preliminary yield trial conducted at Sardarkrushinagar during kharif 2015. It was evaluated in multilocation trials from kharif 2016 to kharif 2020, simultaneously it was screened against various insects and diseases under field conditions at Amreli and Sardarkrushinagar. Under AICRP trial, it was tested under Initial Varietal Trial (Kharif) at different five centres of zone I in the year 2019. The mean seed yield of GT 7 (Banas Gaurav) variety under kharif season in Gujarat state has been recorded 957 kg/ha with a tune of 25.92, 18.73, 8.87, 21.49 and 18.16 per cent higher than the check varieties GT 2, GT 3, GT 4, GT 6 and GT 10, respectively. It was also found superior in quality traits viz., oil content (49.06 %), linoleic acid content (44.69 %) and linolenic acid content (0.32 %). It has higher 1000 seed weight (3.48 g) than check varieties. Considering the average seed yield in kharif condition and quality of the genotype SKT 1501, it was proposed and identified for release as Gujarat Til 7 (Banas Gaurav) for general cultivation for sesame growing farmers of Gujarat state.