Effect of gamma irradiation on the variability of oil flax population

The variability in the M3 generation of gamma ray-treated oil flax population was studied with respect to some properties serving as measures of economic value. From the properties studied, it was the capsule number per plant that exhibited the largest scatter (CV=18%). Irradiation at a dose rate of 30 krad induced the largest increase in the variation of weight per 1000 grains. The value of the variation coefficient rose from 7.19% to 12.86%. A similarly large increase in variation was experienced in plant height. The increase in the scatter of capsule number per plant and percentile pollination was 29-34.6%, while the average capsule number per plant was significantly reduced by an irradiation of 30 krad. (author)