Heterosis Studies for Grain Yield and Yield Components in Rabi Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.

Abstract

The present investigation was conducted to assess the magnitude of heterosis of rabi sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) developed by crossing four lines and twelve testers (in a line × tester design) to produce 48 F1 cross combinations at the Sorghum Improvement Project, MPKV., Rahuri, Maharashtra. To identify the high-yielding Rabi sorghum hybrids, promising hybrids were sorted out based on positive significant standard heterosis for grain yield per plant. A total of twenty-one hybrids exhibited significant standard heterosis for grain yield per plant. The best cross combination was 104A x RSR 1012 (86.59%) for maximum standard heterosis, followed by the cross 104A X RSR 1019 (73.17%) and 104 A X RSR 1003 (70.73%) for grain yield per plant. Heterosis has been considered a well-proven method for increasing yield and improving traits in crops, and the exploitation of heterosis for the hybrid development programme is considered one of the greatest breakthroughs in plant breeding.