Nine genetically diverse sunflower promising lines in their economic trait were crossed using line by tester mating design in 2018 spring season, to estimate per se performance, combining ability, heterosis, gene action and heritability for earliness, yield and its attributes traits. The parents involved four sunflower CMS lines namely L1 (A3), L2 (A5), L3 (A9) and L4 (A13) (called hereafter "Lines" (as female parents) and five sunflower genotypes T1 (RF9), T2 (RF10), T3 (RF11), T4 (RF14) and T5 (RF1) as male parents (called hereafter "Tester"). In 2018 and 2019 summer season, the nine parents along with their 20 F 1 s seeds were evaluated at Shandaweel Agricultural Research Station, ARC, Sohag Governorate, Egypt using a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. Mean squares due to parents (P), crosses (C), CMS lines (L), RF testers (T), P vs C and L x T were significant for all studied traits. A larger magnitude of non-additive gene action than additive was revealed by greater ratios (GCA/ SCA) than unity for all studied traits (except for days to 50% flowering). A5 and A13 of CMS lines and RF11 and RF14 of RF lines proved to be the best general combiners for seed weight plant -1 and one or more of its attributes traits. Moreover, the best cross combinations A13 x RF11, A13 x RF1 and A5 x RF9 performed better than other developed hybrids in view of seed weight plant -1 and one or more of its attributes, hence these F1 hybrids could further be used on commercial exploitation. For citation:Ahmed MA, Abdelsatar MA, Attia MA, Abeer AA. GGE biplot analysis of Line by tester for seed yield and its attributes in sunflower.

A field experiment was conducted in the contrasting locations of Kafr-El-Hamam/Sharkia and Al-Arish/North Sinai agricultural research stations of the Agricultural Research Center in Egypt. We estimated the additive and dominance genetic variances, as well as heritability in the broad and narrow senses for sunflower yield and its attributes in the cross L350 x L355 using North Carolina Design-III. The magnitude of the additive variances for all studied traits at both locations in proportion to the phenotypic variances was larger than the dominance variances. The average degree of dominance was greater than the unit, as also confirmed by the high narrow-sense heritability for most of the studied traits. The genetic improvement may be achieved through the selection of genotypes with larger head diameter and heavier seed weight which also showed moderate to high values of narrow-sense heritability. Thirty-two sunflower backcrosses were grouped into eight distinct clusters/groups by canonical analysis.

Genetic behavior for seed yield and yield components in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)under normal irrigation and water stress conditions Comportamiento genético del rendimiento de semillas y componentes del rendimiento en sésamo (Sesamum indicum L.) en condiciones normales de riego y estrés hídrico

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Simultaneously identify superior performing in terms of seed yield and seed oil content and broad adaptation across a wide range of different environments is an important target for sunflower breeder. So, 10 sunflower genotypes were evaluated across the eight various environments created by sowing at four locations i. e. Kafr El Hamam/ Sharkia, Shandaweel /Sohag, Tag El Ezz/ Dakahlia and Al Arish/ North Sinai Agricultural Research Stations, Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Egypt during the two successive summer seasons 2018 and 2019 using randomized complete block designs with four replications in each environment. Results showed that mean squares due to environments, genotypes and their interaction were highly significant for seed yield and seed oil content. Most stability approaches revealed that high performing stable genotypes were L240 for seed yield and Sakha 53, L110 and L235 for seed oil content under divergent environments. Hence, these four stable sunflower genotypes could be behaved as good breeding materials stock for sunflower improvement.

<p>To determinate self-compatible genotypes for increasing autogamy yielded, the ten sunflower genotypes were sown under four pollination methods i.e., open-, self-, hand- and sib-pollinations in a randomized complete block design replicated thrice at Kafr-El-Hamam Agricultural research Station, Sharkia Governorate, Agricultural Research Center, Egypt during 2018 and 2019 summer seasons. Significant variation existed for different pollination treatments, genotypes and their interactions for all studied traits. Among the treatments, open pollination followed by sibbing one was regarded as the best pollination treatment for head diameter, number of filled seeds per head, percentage of seed setting , kernel to hull ratio, seed mass per plant, seed yield per fed and seed oil content. Autogamy studies revealed that ‘L120’ followed by ‘L92’ and ‘L880’ recorded higher proportion of autogamy and self-compatibility. Preferred improvement of seed mass per plant may be achieved through selecting genotypes having the largest head diameter, bigger number of filled seeds per head, the highest proportion of seed setting and the heaviest seed, kernel and hull mass as proven by high phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation and high heritability coupled with high genetic advance (as % of mean) as well as correlation and path analyses at both phenotypic and genotypic levels.</p>

The amount of water available to Egypt is limited and present water demands approaches that limit. For this reason, plans were suggested to re-use agricultural drainage water directly or often mixing with fresh water to extend the limited water supplies. The indiscriminate use of drainage water for irrigation as a result of freshwater shortage could impair soil functions and cause environmental pollution. This study aims to evaluate the suitability of wastewater from different sources, for irrigation purposes in the Northern Nile Delta of Egypt. Therefore, this study was carried out on three water drainage sources El-Gamalia , El-Serw and El-Harna drain with El-Shoka canal as a fresh water source as the control along a year starting from May 2016 to February 2018. The EC, SAR and the concentration of some macronutrients and some heavy elements in the water of all sources are evaluated. Water EC and SAR value increased slightly from upstream to downstream of all irrigation sources in the study area. The quality of study drainage water from drains belongs to C3 S1 and C4 S1 classes and could be re-use in irrigation purpose under special management, while the water from El-Shoka canal belongs to C2 S1 in the study area. Phosphorus concentration in sample water from El-Gamalia drain only was greater than 2 mg L-1 , which indicate this water can't be used for irrigation purpose. Also, Nitrate-N concentrations in water samples from El-Gamalia drain only was between 5-30 mg L-1 , therefore there is a slight to moderate degree of restriction when using this water in irrigation. While heavy metal ions concentration (Ni, Co and Cd) was greater than permissible levels at all selected water samples, except water samples from El-Shoka canal from a distance of 0 km to 4 km. While, Pb concentration was less than the critical limits (5 mg L-1). The conclusion from this study could be re-used of drainage water from drains of the northern delta of Egypt for irrigation purpose under special management.

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate agronomic performance and oil quality of seven sunflower genotypes at Shandaweel Research Station, Agricultural Research Center, Sohag, Egypt during 2018 and 2019 summer seasons. These genetic materials were sown in a randomized complete block design having three replications. Significant genetic variations among evaluated sunflower genotypes for agronomic traits and oil quality were observed. The superior sunflower genotypes were Line 120 for seed yield per hectare (3102.38 kg), Sakha 53 for seed oil content (44.63 %) and Line 125 for oil quality where it contained the highest proportion of unsaturated fatty acids (89.20 %). The phenotypic coefficients of variation were slightly higher than genotypic coefficients of variation for all studied traits. High heritability (exceeded 60%) and genetic advance as percent of mean (ranged from medium to high, exceeded 10%) was observed for most studied traits. Seed yield per plant positively correlated with plant height, stem diameter, head diameter, and 100-seed weight and most chemical traits at phenotypic and genotypic levels. Maximum phenotypic direct effects on seed yield per plant were observed for 100-seed weight, head diameter and total unsaturated fatty acids. While, the highest genotypic direct effect on seed yield per plant was observed for head diameter. Hence, most studied traits could be employed as selection criteria for improving evaluated sunflower genotypes.