A study of correlations and path analyses of some traits in sunflower parental lines

Abstract

The trial in this study was carried out in field conditions throughout three years from plots where seed production of sunflower parental lines was established. Eight genotypes were examined; namely RHA-UK, RHA-ST-59, RHA-SES-IMI, RHA-SNRF, RHA-E-ANN-65, RHA-RU-3, RHA-CDN, and RHA-N-M-1. All the examined genotypes are parental components of the best sunflower hybrids developed by the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad, Serbia. Relationships between seed yield and eight different traits in sunflower were studied - oil and protein content, seed germination, 1000-seed weight, head diameter, number of branches and leaves and plant height. The same analyses were carried out for comparison of oil content. A highly significant positive correlation was determined between plant height and number of branches; plant height and the number of leaves; plant height and head diameter; plant height and seed yield; number of branches and yield; the number of leaves and yield; head diameter and seed yield; number of leaves and number of branches; number of leaves and head diameter and between seed germination and oil content. Path analysis indicated highest significant direct effect of plant height on yield (0.439**). The number of branches had a significant positive direct effect on yield (0.260*). In the study of indirect effects on yield, thirteen significant effects were determined. The study of direct effects on oil content showed that the plant height and number of leaves diameter had high significant effects (0.800** and -0.847**). The existence of indirect significant effects on oil content was determined in nine cases.

Agro-Morphological Traits of Inbred Sunflower Lines and their Genetic Assessment

“…Theoretical studies and practical experience have shown that high yields per unit area are usually associated with the number of plants per unit area, number of seeds per plant (depending on the degree of fertilization), head diameter (Hladni et al, 2014;Singh & Chander, 2018;Zeinalzadeh-Tabrizi et al, 2019;Riaz et al, 2019;Keipp et al, 2020;Naik & Ghodke, 2021) and the weight of 1000 seeds (Radić et al, 2013;Jalil et al 2014;Nichal et. al., 2015;Ieremenko & Kalitka, 2016;Kvashin et al, 2018;Baraiya et al, 2018;Kalenska et al, 2020;Radić et al, 2021;Naik & Ghodke, 2021). The authors mentioned above also argue that increases in the weight of 1000 seeds and head diameter significantly increase seed yields, which is consistent with the results obtained herein.…”

“…Plant breeding programs aimed at improving yields are esentially based on agro-morphological and physiological plant traits that are easy to measure while exhibiting cause-and-effect relationship with seed yields (Chambo et al, 2017). Moreover, Radić et al (2021) suggest that a thorough understanding of the relationship between agronomic and technological features is required for a successful sunflower breeding and selection effort. Table 1.…”

“…The quality of inbred lines is cruical for the improvement and success of breeding programs. It is also of paramount importance to understand the nature and magnitude of interdependence between specific plant features (Radić et al, 2021). In addition to their yields, inbred lines should be distinguished according to a number of other desirable traits (Ćuk et al, 2020).…”

Can Modification of Sowing Date and Genotype Selection Reduce the Impact of Climate Change on Sunflower Seed Production?

“…Due to substantial variability in sunflower traits, the IFVCNS collection of inbred sunflower lines is a valuable source of breeding material for responding to climate change [48]. Sunflower seed yield, reliant on components like 1000-seed mass and oil content, directly affects the yield per unit area [49]. Sunflowers typically show stability and result in high yields under variable weather conditions, even in unfavorable seasons [50] such as the season of 2022.…”