Variabilty Studies in Sesamum Indicum L.

Sesamum indicum L. (Syn. Sesamum orientale L.), which is known variously as sesamum, til, gingelly, simsim, gergelim etc. Sesame is a one of the World’s oldest cultivated oilseed crop. North Indian plains, Burma and Abyssinia including Somalia and Eritrea are the basic centers of origin with central Asia as yet another center of origin of sesame. Sesame is a most important oilseed crop grown in India next to groundnut, rapeseed and mustard. It is grown in three seasons viz., kharif, semi-rabi and summer.Sesame is better known as “Queen of oilseeds” by virtue of its quality edible oil and protein content. It contains 44- 63 per cent oil and 18-20 per cent protein.The present investigation was therefore planned to evaluate different germplasm lines of sesame with following objectives.1. To assess the extent of genetic variability for important quantitative traits.To assess the nature of association between yield and yield attributes.To identify the potential genetic stocks for future breeding programme.