A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of ten sesame varieties viz, RT-346, RT-351, RT-127, GT-10, TKG-22, Swetha til, JCSDT-26, DS-1, YLM-66 and KMS-59 for physiological, biochemical and yield traits using randomized block design with three replications under rainfed conditions. Results showed that the varieties significantly differed for the physiological parameters such as photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, internal CO2 concentration where as transpiration rate remain non-significant. Variety JCSDT-26 recorded high photosynthetic rate which is positively correlated with the seed yield and low transpiration rate and internal CO2 concentration which are negatively correlated with the seed yield. The highest value of oil content was observed in JCSDT-26 (48.5 %) because of its white seed colour. The maximum value of palmitic acid was also recorded in the variety JCSDT-26 (10.57%). Hence, the variety JCSDT-26 is considered as suitable for cultivation under the rainfed conditions.

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