Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) one of the world oil crops originated in the Middle East which is valued as a source of high-quality vegetable oil. The breeding potential of the safflower genotypes was assessed among several genotypes for plant breeding targets using morphological traits. Traits were studied viz. number of days to 50 % flowering and maturity; number of plants per plot, number of lateral branches, number of main branches, number of capitula per lateral branches, number of capitula per main branch, number of capitula per plant, number of capitula per area, number of seeds per main capitulum, number of seeds per lateral capitulum, plant height, height of first lateral branch and first capitulum, diameter of stem, main capitulum, lateral capitulum, seed weight of main and lateral capitulum, weight of main and lateral capitulum, weight and yield of single plant, seed and biological yield, thousand seed weight and harvest index. The coefficient of variation of some yield components such as number of capitula, number of seeds and seed weight showed high variability, which indicated good potential of materials to improve those traits. The genotypes were grouped into five clusters whereas seven genotypes of the second cluster had high amounts for most traits followed by genotypes of the first cluster which had high amounts for most traits. The genotypes of the third cluster were high for traits, thousand seed weight, harvest index and seed yield while genotypes of the fourth and fifth clusters were high in thousand seed weight. Such information about genetic variation of safflower, facilitates breeding and aides to define the needs for germplasm preservation.
