Journal of Crop Production and Processing

Breeding based on selection indices is an effective method for improving complex traits such as yield. To assess the efficiency of different selection method, 83 exotic along with 17 Iranian safflower genotypes were evaluated at the research farm of Isfahan University of Technology using 10×10 simple lattice design with three replications in 2011. In this study, the selection indices of Smith-Hazel and Pesek-Baker were determined based on the number of capitulum per plant, number of seeds per capitulum and 1000-seed weight. Also response to selection and relative selection efficiency were estimated for traits under study and seed yield. The highest estimated selection efficiency for genetic improvement of seed yield was obtained via selection for number of capitulum per plant. Therefore, this trait can be used as an appropriate selection criterion for improvement of seed yield. The results showed that seed yield was highly correlated with each of these indices and the estimated efficiency of indirect selection via these indices was relatively high. Thus, it seems that these selection indices can be effectively used for seed yield improvement. Results of present study showed that the efficiency of Smith-Hazel indices for simultaneous improvement of number of capitulum per plant, number of seeds per capitulum and 1000-seed weight was higher than that of Pesek-Baker index.