Estimates of General Combining Ability in Sunflower Inbred and Mutant Lines

Experiment of induction male sterility with GA3 in 32 inbred and mutant lines of sunflower and two experiments of evaluation at AL-Tuwaitha-Baghdad and AL-Latifya-Babylon, involving 20 top-crosses of the same lines were investigated. Evaluation specified with the general combining ability (GCA) of several characters with emphasis on seed yield.
Results showed that induction male sterility with GA3 gave a favorable results in the experimental breeding programs for this situation In general, GCA was highly exceeded for some top-crosses in the two locations, whereas, other top-crosses were significantly exceeded in one location. Some top-crosses did not exceed in their GCA in the two locations. However, three Inbred and mutant lines were exceeded in their GCA, and they must be introduced in further studies of evaluation to determine which one could used in hybrid seed production.