Combining ability for some genotypes and heterosis of F1’s crosses in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.).

The present study was carried out during the two seasons 2022 and 2023 at the Educational Farm of
Fac. Agric., Minia University, Egypt to assess of general combining abilities of 8 diverse parental lines of
sesame in addition to heterotic effects and specific combining abilities of its 28 F’s crosses. The results
indicated that mean squares owing to genotypes, parents, crosses and parents vs crosses were highly
significant for all tested traits. For seed yield/plant, all crosses except only one (P4×P7) exhibited highly
significant positive mid-parent heterosis, confirming the superiority of these crosses over mid parents in
seed yielding. All crosses exhibited substantiate positive better-parent heterosis for seed yield/plant,
indicating the superiority of these crosses in seed yield/plant compared to their better-parents. Parent 8
considered to be a good general combiner for seed yield/plant, where it has a significant positive effect.
From the obtained results, it could be concluded that three parents (P3, P5, and P8) recorded significant
effects in most of the studied traits indicating their rich source to improve yield. Concerning seed
yield/plant, twenty two crosses achieved significant negative or positive specific combining ability SCA
effects, seventeen of them recorded substantial positive SCA effects (14 highly significant positive SCA
effects and 3 crosses possessed only significant positive SCA effects), indicating that most of tested
crosses surpassed their parents with regard to this trait.