DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2014.v02i05.002

Pages: 318-325

Little genetic information is available for seed yield in sesame in Cameroon. In order to select varieties with high yield, 12 promising lines were genetically screened at Mora (Northern Cameroon) during 2011 crop season for eight characters viz., days to 50% flowering, days from flowering to capsule maturity, plant height, number of branches, number of capsules per plant, capsule length, number of seeds per capsule and number of days to maturity. Six divergent lines were therefore crossed in all combinations using a diallel mating scheme without their reciprocals. Progenies of F1’s along with their parents were evaluated during 2013 cropping season in a randomized complete block with three replicates. Preliminary analysis of variance indicated that the genotypes were significantly different for all yield components (p<0.05) indicating the probability of selection. Broad-sense heritability estimates were high for all traits (0.66 – 0.99). Narrow sense heritability and GCA/SCA ratio indicated that both dominant and additive gene effects were significant for these parameters with a predominance of non additive effects. Genetic analysis demonstrated that the parents differed for their general combining ability (GCA) and the crosses showed specific combining ability (SCA). Association between GCA effects and mean characters in most cases implied that parental sesame lines with high values of the characters have superior combining ability. For these traits, recurrent selection might be a useful breeding strategy.