Author(s):
Availability of genetic variability is the prerequisite of any crop improvement program. Thus, the experiment was conducted to characterize and evaluate sesame landraces based on their qualitative and quantitative traits. Fortynine sesame genotypes were evaluated at Kamashi research sub-station during 2017/18 cropping season. The experiment was laid out on 7 × 7 simple lattice design. Each experimental material was planted on a plot consisted of 5 rows with 4 m length, and 10 cm and 40 cm intra and inter row spacing, respectively. Data was recorded on 10 qualitative and 14 quantitative traits. Statistical analysis was computed using R and SAS university edition. In the present study, genetic variation was exhibited among sesame genotypes for eight qualitative traits such as leaves hairiness, stem hairiness, capsule hairiness, number of flower/leaf axil, number of capsules/leaf axil, number of carpels/capsule, number of locules/capsule and seed coat color. In addition, analysis of variance on quantitative traits revealed the presence of genetic variability among sesame genotypes for days to flowering, bacterial blight disease resistance, days to maturity, plant height to first branching, length of capsule bearing zone, internode length, capsule length, number of capsules/plant, 1000 seeds weight and seed yield. Factor analysis confirmed that bacterial blight disease resistance, plant height, length of capsule bearing zone, number of branches/plant, number of capsules/plant and seed yield were the most important traits those highly contributed to an observed genetic variation. Further, cluster analysis based on 14 quantitative traits grouped the 49 sesame genotypes into seven groups which indicate the presence of genetic diversity.
