Evaluation of the Genetic Variation of Oil-Rich Camelina Advanced Lines under Rainfed Conditions

The development of oilseeds cultivation is one of the important and major goals of the country in achieving self-sufficiency in this field, which will play an important role in food security. Camelina is a promising oilseed that could potentially be used as a low-input crop for production in the drylands. However, little is known about camelina’s breeding lines. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate and screen advanced camelina lines in terms of agronomic characteristics, yield, and percentage of seed oil using various statistical methods.

In this study, 19 advanced high oil lines along with cultivar Soheil were screened for agronomic characteristics, yield, and percentage of seed oil. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replicates under rain-fed conditions at Sarab-Changai Research Station, Lorestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Centre, Khorramabad, Iran during the 2020-2021 cropping year in rainfed condition.

According to the results, the oil yield and grain yield traits with more than 40% had the highest coefficient of variation. Day-to-flowering and day-to-maturity traits had the least variability according to this statistic. Analysis of variance indicated significant genotypic diversity between the studied genotypes in terms of most traits. The highest grain yield (901 kg/ha), oil content (35.83%), and oil yield (324 kg/ha) were recorded for DH60 line. According to the results of means comparison, plant height of genotypes was between 70.17 and 80.33 cm, day to flowering between 124 and 136, and day to maturity between 156 and 167. The correlation between grain yield and seed oil content (0.744**) and oil yield (0.995**) was positive and highly significant. Genotypes were clustered into three groups and the groups were statistically significantly different in most of the traits.

lines DH60, DH61, and DH105 were known as desirable and candidates for further breeding and agronomic research programs based on the results of various statistical methods including mean comparisons, cluster analysis, “genotype × trait” biplot, and SIIG index. lines DH41, DH69, DH128, and DH82 were also identified as the weakest genotypes in terms of the studied traits and are not recommended for economic cultivation. The results of this study showed that camelina is a crop plant adapted to dry conditions and a short growth period that has the potential to provide diversity in dryland crop rotation.