Performance of biofortified pearl millet hybrids for grain yield in northern India
2019
Govindaraj, M | Kanatti, A | Sharma, L D | Yadav, D | Shivade, H
Pearl millet is a dryland resilient crop of the semi-arid tropics in India and Africa. It plays a major role in food and nutritional security in these regions. Dry-Zone of northern India Lags behind in pearl millet genetic improvement and adoption of hybrids. Aim of this study was to test and identify superior high-irn and high yielding hybrids for adaptation. Two trials with 17 (trial1, 2016) and 14 (trial 2, 2017) hybrids were conducted in 3 sites each for grain yield, and irn (Fe) and zinc (Zn) density in grains. Analysis of variance showed highly significant variation for grain yield, flowering, Fe and Zn density in both the trials and acros environments. Hybrids significantly contributed to total variability for all traits, while the GxE interaction contributed much lower in both the trials across environments. Further, high heritability for all traits suggests relatively low environmental influence on these traits. Trial 1 hybrids had 59-104 mg kg-1 Fe density, 35-52 mg kg-1 Zn density and 2.2-3.5 t ha-1 grain yield. Five hybrids were identified with 19-45% higher yield and >40% higher iron than control. Similar trend was observed in trial2. Three commercial hybrids had 43-58 mg/kg mean Fe and 29-37 mg kg-1 mean Zn with an average yield of 1.9-2.5 t ha-1. Although without affecting Fe/Zn density. This is preliminary indication of the potential of ICRISAT high-Fe/Zn parents, and their utilization in hybrid breeding, for development of high iron and zinc hybrids without compromising the grain yield in northern India.
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This bibliographic record has been provided by International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics