Abstract
Hybrid pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] breeding technology based on cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) was recently developed in India. A program was initiated to track the purity of female parental lines by incorporating an obcordate leaf shape marker in established male sterile A-lines. Seven obcordate A-lines developed by backcrossing and selection were crossed with four known fertility restorers in line x tester mating design to study their general and specific combining ability. Higher magnitude of specific combining ability (SCA) effect showed that, hybrid yield was under the control of non-additive genes. Among A-lines, ICPA 2204 was the best general combiner. Among testers, ICPL 20116 was the best general combiner. Among hybrids, ICPA 2208 x ICPL 20108 a cross between high general combining ability (GCA) parents was the best with positive significant SCA effect and higher mean performance for grain yield, 100-seed mass, number of seeds/pod and resistance to fusarium wilt disease. The success of this technology will help to address the issue of seed purity to some extent. Key words: Combining ability, line × tester, general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA), obcordate leaf shape, pigeonpea.
Highlights
In order to achieve a breakthrough in the productivity of pigeonpea, hybrid breeding technology based on cytoplasmic genetic male sterility was developed at ICRISAT (Saxena, 2008)
The genetically uniform parental lines and commercial hybrids are necessary in production and marketing of quality hybrid crops
Quality control of hybrid seeds is traditionally done by Grow out Test (GoT) in most of the crops
Summary
In order to achieve a breakthrough in the productivity of pigeonpea, hybrid breeding technology based on cytoplasmic genetic male sterility was developed at ICRISAT (Saxena, 2008). Significant yield gains with improved disease and drought resistance in the hybrids over traditional cultivars are likely to help in enhancing production and productivity of pigeonpea. To achieve this mission, it is important to establish a stable and robust hybrid seed production technology that will fulfil the ever increasing demand for quality hybrid seed. Quality control of hybrid seeds is traditionally done by Grow out Test (GoT) in most of the crops In pigeonpea this process is more resource intensive in terms of time and labour due to its long generation time. Morphological markers are limited in nature but their assays neither require sophisticated
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