The analysis of variance of 51 inbreds and 3 checks revealed significant differences for all 15 characters studied. The range of variation was maximum for percent autogamy followed by plant height and oil yield, while it was lowest in the case of days to 50 percent flowering and stem girth. The magnitude of variation was maximum for oil yield, 100-seed weight, head diameter, percent autogamy, husk percentage, seed density, plant height, seed test weight and oil content. Except for oil content, all other characters studied were least affected by environment showing a close correspondence between phenotypic co-variance (PCV) and genotypic co-variance (GCV). High heritability estimates were obtained for all the characters studied except for oil content, the value of which was moderate. High heritability coupled with the high genetic advance was recorded for plant height, percent autogamy, percent seed set and yield per plant. High heritability along with low genetic advance was observed for the number of leaves per plant, head diameter, stem girth, days to 50 percent flow ering, 100-seed weight and oil yield, suggesting that these characters cannot be effectively improved by selection.