Effect of isogenic-alloplasmic cytoplasmic male sterility system on grain yield traits in pearl millet

M Pujar, M Govindaraj, S Gangaprasad, A Kanatti, 'Effect of isogenic-alloplasmic cytoplasmic male sterility system on grain yield traits in pearl millet', p.9, 2019

Pearl millet is a nutri-cereal and is grown predominantly by subsistence farmers in semi-aridregions of India and Africa. Considering highly cross pollination nature and availability ofcytoplasmic male sterility (CMS), pearl millet hybrids are becoming a dominant cultivar typein India. Present study aims to assess the effect of isonucleus-alloplasmic, A1, A4 and A5cytoplasmic male sterility system on agronomic performance of pearl millet hybrids. Fiveisogenic females each having 3 alloplasmic (A1, A4 and A5) cytoplasm were crossed with 6male-parents to generate 120 hybrids and were evaluated in two contrasting season in splitsplit-plot design (SSPD). The significant cytoplasm per se and restorer per se indicate theboth contribution to most of the traits, however, greater magnitude of contribution arises fromrestorers (74% grain yield; 95% 1000-grain weight). The significant hybrids � environmentshows the mandatory of multi location testing for yield traits while non-significant of CMS �environment interactions reveals the greater stability of CMS. Further, no significant meanyield differences exhibited in A1, A4 and A5 hybrids (2.53-2.81 t ha-1) indicates not anyadverse effect of cytoplasm on grain yield and associated traits. Also, diverse geneticbackgrounds used in this study exhibited significant contributions to grain yield and itscomponent traits. These results imply the prospects for utilization of potential alternativecytoplasm (A4 and A5) to widen the cytoplasm base together with development of counterpartrestorers to produce future high-yielding hybrids