Effect of Gamma rays on Quantitative Traits of Sesame (Sesamum indicum (L.) in M1 generation

Mutation breeding is relatively a quicker method for improvement of crop plants. It has been observed that induced mutations can increase yield as well as other quantitative traits in plants. The dormant seeds of sesame (Sesamum indicum (L.), genotype VRI-1 (Virudhachalam-1) were treated with various doses of gamma rays like 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100KR and the LD50 values observed at 40KR of Gamma rays. Based on their LD50 values appreciable concentrations only selected for further study and their effects on various morphological characters such as plant height, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, days to first flowering, number of capsules per plant, number of seeds per capsule and seed yield per plant (g) were measured quantitatively and the results showed that all the characters were consequently or significantly reduced when compared to control. The results were obtained in the present study clearly indicate that different doses of gamma rays can be effectively utilized to create variability for various quantitative traits of the crop.