New High Yielding Short Duration Pearl Millet Hybrid: TNAU Cumbu Hybrid CO 9

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Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L) R.Br) is an important crop grown over 40 countries, predominantly (>55% of global millet production), in Africa and Asia, where the growing conditions are dry and infertile to grow most other grains.In the world, pearl millet ranks in its importance after wheat, rice, corn, barley and sorghum.As a cereal for human food, it is considered to be highly palatable and most nutritious.Apart from being used as food for human consumption and feed for livestock and poultry, pearl millet grain is also gaining importance as a cheap source of starch for fine quality brewing and in other diversified food uses.It is the most drought and heat tolerant cereal crop hence its cultivation is spreading intensively in the traditional areas and extensively in newer areas where water scarcity is prevalent.Among the cereal crops it has the highest water use efficiency under drought stress.
The availability and knowledge on the development of CMS lines, their maintainers and restorers, made it possible to produce the seed of commercial single-cross F1 grain hybrids in India (Athwal, 1966).Such hybrids have substantial yield advantage over popular open pollinated varieties (OPVs).In pearl millet the Tift 23A CMS line was, *Corresponding author email: sumivetri@yahoo.comextensively utilized in India, and more number of hybrids was released for commercial cultivation (Dave, 1987).Production increased from 3.5 to 8.0 million tons during this period.Intensive cultivation of hybrids based on a single male sterile line resulted into cytoplasmic and genetic homogeneity leading to downy mildew epidemic.Hence, development of hybrids with downy mildew resistance is essential in pearl millet improvement programme.

Materials and Methods
Fresh crosses of 500 numbers were synthesized involving ten cytoplasmic male sterile lines (CMS lines) and fifty restorer lines during kharif 2005 at Department of Millets, Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics, TNAU, Coimbatore-3.All the synthesized hybrids were evaluated along with the checks X7 and NH 07 (Nath hybrid seed).Among the hybrids synthesized, the hybrid TNBH 0642 performed better than all other hybrids tested.Hence, the hybrid, TNBH 0642 involving ICMA 93111 as female parent and PT 6029-30 as male parent was identified as promising high yielding hybrid and was promoted to test under advanced yield trials from 2006-2010.Based on its performance, the hybrid TNBH 0642 was promoted and evaluated in Multilocation trial (MLT) at different research stations during 2007-2008.Then it was promoted to Adaptive Research Trials (ART) and On Farm Trials (OFT) and evaluated both under rainfed and irrigated condition during 2008-10.In addition, this hybrid was also tested under ICAR-All India Coordinated pearl millet trials in Zone A (Northern states of the country) and B (Southern states of the country) during 2008-09 and was promoted to next stage in Zone B during (2009-10).A total of 140 and 88 trials were conducted under irrigated and rainfed condition respectively.Simultaneously, this hybrid was also screened for diseases viz., downy mildew, rust and ergot under both field and sick plot condition.Besides, the grain quality traits, viz., carbohydrate, protein, fat, phosphorous and iron were also analyzed following the standard procedures.

Results and Discussion
The hybrid TNBH 0642 was tested in station trials from 2005-09 at Department of Millets, Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics, TNAU, Coimbatore.It recorded an average yield of 4343 kg/ha over eight season under irrigated condition.It was 38 and 28 percent increased yield over the check hybrids X7 which recorded 3156 and NH 07 with 3381 kg/ha Under multilocation trials, the hybrid was tested over five locations in irrigated and three locations under rainfed situations with the check X7 and a private hybrid NH 07 (Table 2).The test hybrid recorded an average yield of 3596 and 3012 kg/ha under irrigated and rainfed conditions respectively.This was 43 and 30 percent under irrigated and 11 and 25 percent under rainfed condition higher than the checks X7 and NBH 07 respectively.This hybrid was tested under 52 adaptive research trials during 2008-10 under irrigated condition and 66 locations during 2008-09 under rainfed condition.The results revealed that the superiority of the hybrid in grain yield.The hybrid THBH 0642 gave an increased grain yield of 16 and 15 per cent over the checks X7 and NH 07 under irrigated condition respectively (Table 3).It gave 2615 kg/ha of grain yield which is 10 and 5 per cent greater than X7 (2384 kg/ha) and NH07 (2501 kg/ ha) under rainfed condition respectively.Besides, this hybrid was also tested under 44 and 15 locations on farm trials (OFT) at farmer's holding under irrigated and rainfed conditions respectively.It gave 4223 kg/ha and 3325 kg/ha under irrigated and rainfed situations respectively.The overall mean yield of the hybrid under 140 locations under irrigated and 88 locations under rainfed conditions showed that this hybrid was 30 percent superior over the check X7 and 24 percent superior over NH 07 under irrigated condition (Table 4) while, under rainfed situations, it showed 18 and 19 percent higher grain yield over X7 and NH 07 respectively.
Disease reaction: Shelke and Chavan (2010) reported that identification and selection of resistant parents is important for crossing programme  Angarawari et al.,( 2008) reported that transfer of resistant to recipient parents by donor parents was highly possible.This new hybrid, showed nil incidence for downy mildew and ergot disease under field condition, while the rust percent was very low of 3 percent.The parents of this hybrid also showed resistance for downy mildew.While, the check hybids, X7 and NH 07 recorded 8.5 and 6.0 percent of rust and 1 and 2 percent of ergot incidence respectively (Table 5).
Under sick plot conditions, the hybrid TNBH 0642 recorded 2, 2.5, and 1 percent of downy mildew, rust, and ergot incidence respectively (Table 6).Where as X7 recorded nil incidence to downy mildew and 11 percent of rust and 2 percent of ergot incidence.The private hybrid NH 07 recorded 3.2, 7.0, 3 percent of downy mildew rust and ergot diseases respectively.Hence, the hybrid THBH 06 42 was resistant to all the three diseases.Grain quality: This hybrid was on par with the check hybrid X7 in fat, and Carbohydrate contents.It recorded high iron content of 8 mg/100g which is higher than the check hybrids (Tale 7).This hybrid has acceptable cooking quality and has consumer preference due to its flavor, taste and keeping quality of the cooked preparations.
Based on the above all desirable features, the pearl millet hybrid THBH 0642 was released as TNAU Cumbu hybrid Co 9 by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University during 2011 for pearl millet growing regions of Tamil Nadu.