Association between Seed Yield and Some Morphological Characteristics in Sunflower.

Objective of this study was to determine the divergence and association between seed yield and three morphological characteristics that are very important in sunflower breeding (plant height, head diameter and days to flowering) in order to identify the most valuable trait for seed yield improvement. Forty new hybrid combinations were evaluated. Cluster analysis was used to determine genetic diversity in new hybrid combinations by classifying genotypes based on average values of the studied characteristics. Genotypes were classified into three homogenous groups and six individuals. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to examine association between the studied characteristics, among which days to flowering showed negative correlation while plant height and head diameter showed positive correlation with seed yield, on both genotypic and phenotypic levels. Our study showed that there is genetic variability among new hybrids and bearing in mind that hybrids should be grown in different agro-ecological environments, our attention should be focused on developing inbred lines with lower stem resistant to lodging, larger head diameter and earlier flowering. HR Cilj ovog rada je bio da se utvrdi divergentnost i povezanost između prinosa semena i tri morfološka svojstva koja su veoma važna u oplemenjivanju suncokreta (visina biljke, prečnik glave i broj dana do cvetanja) kako bi se identifikovalo najznačajnije svojstvo. Četrdeset novih hibridnih kombinacija je ocenjeno u ovom istraživanju. Klaster analiza je korištena za određivanje genotipske divergentnosti u novim hibridnim kombinacijama klasifikacijom genotipova na osnovu srednjih vrednosti ispitivanih svojstava. Genotipovi su klasifikovani u tri homogene grupe i šest pojedinačnih. Za istraživanje povezanosti ispitivanih svojstava korišteni su Pirsonovi koeficijenti korelacije. Između ispitivanih svojstava, dani do cvetanja su pokazali negativnu korelaciju, dok su visina biljke i prečnik glave pokazali pozitivnu korelaciju sa prinosom semena, na genotipskom i fenotipskom nivou. Naša studija je pokazala da između novih hibrida postoji genetička varijabilnost a imajući u vidu da hibridi treba da se gaje u različitim agro-ekološkim uslovima naša pažnja treba da se usmeri na stvaranje inbred linija niže stabljike otporne na poleganje, većeg prečnika glave i ranijeg cvetanja. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]