Abstract

Combining ability of ten inbred lines of pearl millet of African and Indian origin were studied through diallel crossing technique for yield and yield attributes viz., plant height, days to flower,ear number, ear length, ear girth,ear packing and 1000-grain weight, Both addi- tive and non-additive types of gene action were found to play a significant role in bringing out the heterotic effects in these characters. The g.c.a. effects of the parents and the s.c.a. effects of the crosses showed that none of the parents were useful for simultaneous improvement of all the characters as they were found to be good for a single or a few characters only. Selection indices were worked out to evaluate the genotypic value of the cross. They con- firmed the superiority of the parents Sereri A, RP. 118,3-5 and RP. 156/2 in enhancing the genotypic value of the hybrids for most of the characters.

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