Mehdi jamshidmoghaddam - Oilseed Breeder, Dry-land Agricultural Research Institute (Sararood Branch), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran

Because of the presence of genotype × environment interaction (GEI), yield stability is one of the most important breeding objectives in any crop. The objectives of this study were first to analyze GEI on seed yield of 15 safflower genotypes and second to compare several different stability methods that are widely used to identify yielding and stable genotypes. Combined analysis of variance showed significant genotypes (G), environments (E), and GEI (P < 0.01), with environmental main effects being the predominant source of variation (59.8%), followed by GEI (22.9%). According to all stability statistics and regarding the high mean yield, genotypes G6 (CW-74), G5 (Padedeh), G2 (PI 401478), and G10 (Faraman) were recognized as the most stable genotypes in all environments. A principal component analysis based on rank correlation matrix was performed for grouping the different stability parameters studied. The first PC separated static and dynamic concepts of stability, in which the parameters the yieldstability statistic (YSi), superiority index (Pi) and regression coefficients (bi) had a dynamic concept of stability, and the other remaining parameters had static concept of stability.

Carthamus tinctorius L., G × E interaction, Stability parameters, Rank correlation