M. H. RahmanChandrashekhar Mahta2024-06-252024-06-251996https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810210873Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) is predominantly self-pollinated crop grown as a rabi oilseed in India. The oil content varies from 33 to 45 per cent and mainly used in paint and varnish industries as quick drying oil. It is also used as edible oil in many parts of the world. India is the largest country in the world in terms of area and production of linseed. However, the average productivity in the country is very low as compared to other linseed growing countries. Among the various causes of low yield, lack of suitable variety is one of the most important factors. Although some breeding programme has been executed to improve genetical potential of linseed, it is not sufficient for the growing demand of the farmers. The present investigation was carried out to identify suitable yield component characters for selection on the basis of various variability parameters and also to identify suitable parents for hybridization programme on the basis of combining ability studies. Correlation studied and heterosis were also investigated to know the better genetic behavior of this crop. A modified line x tester design was framed to get the above genetical information’s. The total breeding material for this investigation comprised of fifteen genetically diverse genotypes used as females, two well established males of different genetic base and thirty crosses thus obtained by crossing 15 females and 2 males. All the thirty crosses along with seventeen parents totaling fourth seven genotypes were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with three replications during rabi 1995-96 for eleven quantitative characters following standard agronomic practices. The observation data obtained were utilized in analysing various genetic parameters for all the characters following standard methods: The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among the seventeen parents and among the thirty crosses for all the characters studied. This indicated the inherent genetic differences among parents as well as crosses The genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variations was higher in parents than the crosses for all the characters studied except number of seeds per capsule. Plant breeders are mainly concerned with the genotypic coefficient of variation and it was found in considerable amount for the characters number of capsules per plant, seed yield per plant, 1000- seed weight and number of secondary branches per plant.EnglishThesis