Determination of Yield, Yield Components, and Phenotypic Trait Variation Among Niger Crosses.

Niger (Guizotia abyssinica) is primarily marketed in the U.S. as birdseed for American goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) because of its high oil content. In this study, five niger accessions were crossed to form six different populations that were evaluated for seed yield, seed oil and agronomic traits to determine the feasibility of future breeding efforts in improving these traits. A RCBD with replication was used for this experiment. Five parents (3 replications/block), six F1’s (5 replications/block) and F2’s (25 replications/block), and eight BC’s (5 replications/block) were planted in each of four blocks at the Research & Education Center located in Knoxville (2013 and 2014), Springfield (2013 and 2014), and Crossville (2014). Mean separations were run on traits including seed yield, plant height, total number of flowers per plant, average number of seeds per flower, total primary branches per plant, lodging and days to full bloom were recorded at each location in 2013. Correlations were conducted for all dependent variables using SAS 9.3. Results indicate significant differences among crosses for seed yield, height, total flowers, branches, and days to full bloom (P<0.01). Yield mean values ranged from 589.62 (P3) to 11826 (F8) seeds. Total flower counts per plant ranged between 42 (P4) and 710 (BC5). Primary branch means ranged between 14 (P4) and 32 (BC5). Lodging was prevalent at both locations. A strong positive correlations were found between seed yield and total number of flowers (0.80) as well as height and branches (0.47) (P<0.0001).