Evaluation of Flower Yield and Stability of Various Rosa damascena Mill. Accessions

Yield stability in Rosa damascena Mill was analyzed as a part of the National Project carried out by Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands of Iran. Thirty- five accessions of Damask rose (Rosa damascena Mill.) from various regions were evaluated for performance and stability of flower yield in region of different echological conditions for two years of 2007 and 2008 using a randomized complete block design of three replicatins. Significant differences (p?0.01) were observed for accessions, environments, locations, and as well for accession×environment and accession×location intractions. Accession×environment and accession×location intractions were mainly crossover interactions, a large portion of which was accounted for by non-linear (unpredictable) components. Grand mean for flower yield was 2263.14kg/ha. The accessions of Isfahan9, Yazd2, West Azarbaijan1, Isfahan7 and Isfahan1 with 3120.63, 2941.63, 2894.62, 2769.15 and 2716.92 kg/ha respectively produced the highest flower yield among the studied accessions. Kerman with an average flower yield of 3635.46 kg/ha produced the highest yield among the studied locations. In addition accessions from such arid zones as Yazd2 and Isfahan accessions’ group showed higher flower yields than those from moderate and cold zones. The accessions of Yazd2, Isfahan5, Isfahan8, Isfahan4, Khouzestan1, Ardabil1, Isfahan3 and Balouchestan1 were stable and Yazd2, Isfahan5, Isfahan8, Isfahan4, Khouzestan1, Ardabil1, Isfahan6, Isfahan3, Balouchestan1 and Isfahan10 were adaptable accessions for flower yield as based on the Eberhart and Russel method characteristics (bi or regression coefficient of yield over environmental index equal to unity, Sdi2 or variance due to deviation from regression equal to zero and mean of yield without significant difference with total mean of accessions or higher than that). The. ..