Abstract

Twenty nine inbred parents of pearl millet and four non-restorer inbreds were Involved in a programme of developing non-restorer lines carrying the genes for resistance to downy mildew. By a series of backcrosses with the non-restorers PT 7328, J 12602B, L1118 and 51415. as recurrent parents and twenty nine resistant inbreds as donor parents 76 non-restorer lines were generated. Among these, 18 involving 7328. 17 involving 126D28, 20 involving L1118 and 21 involving 51418 exhibited high degree of uniformity combined with high degree of resistance to downy mi dew. They also maintain sterility in F1 with standard male sterile lines. This pregramme resulted in 76 non restorer pearl milletlines with resistance to downy mildew.

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