Inheritance and allelism of brown midrib trait introgressed in agronomically promising backgrounds in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.)

The lignin content of forage crops significantly affects the livestock’s forage intake and its dry matter digestibility. The brown midrib (bmr) trait is known for its association with a reduced lignin content and increased digestibility. Pearl millet inbreds having the bmr trait were derived from two populations ICMV bmr and WRajPop bmr via continued selfing up to 6–8 generations. The results from the crosses revealed the presence of the same single recessive gene that controlled the bmr in both the populations. The stable expression of the bmr gene in the new genetic background indicated that there was no effect of modifier genes. Four inbreds were identified with the stable expression of bmr (three in ICMV 155 and one in the WRajPop background) with a high biomass potential, which can serve as a bmr source in future pearl millet forage breeding programmes

Identifying Promising Pearl Millet Hybrids Using AMMI and Clustering Models

A set of 27 pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] ) hybrids that newly developed using A1 cytoplasmic male-sterile lines, were evaluated over three (two wet and one dry) crop seasons (hereafter refer to as environments) in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two replications to predict genotype by environment (G × E) interaction for grain yield and its component traits, and to identify the high yielding stable hybrids through AMMI and cluster analysis method for possible adaption. Analysis of variance showed significant genetic variation for all studied traits exists. The Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) analysis indicated that genotype, environment and G × E interaction highly significant for grain yield and other traits. However, G × E interaction component explained very low magnitude (3.87%) towards total genetic variation, while genotype alone contributed much higher magnitude (8.04%) in AMMI model and found TNBH 05 45 was an ideal hybrid for all three environments for grain yield (34% over best control). Diversity analysis showed seven diverse clusters following Euclidean distance coefficient of 0.91 and found TNBH 05 03 and TNBH 05 45 hybrids are promising. Based on these two models, TNBH 05 03, TNBH 39 and TNBH 05 45 were identified for stable performance per se in all the environments, and could be used for subsequent advanced testing and hybrid breeding programmes for possible release within regions

Genetic variability studies in forage type hybrid parents of pearl millet

One hundred and sixteen forage-type hybrid parents of pearl millet were investigated in summer season for two years, the results revealed that the traits like number of tillers and leaf to stem ratio (L/S) at first cut (50 days after planting); and dry forage yield (DFY) at second cut (30 days after first cut) had high phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) values than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), hence selection will not be effective for these traits. Many of the desirable and undesirable forage quantity and quality linked traits under investigation had GCV almost equivalent to PCV, thus selection to improve those traits might be effective. High to moderate heritability coupled with high genetic advance per cent of mean (GA) was observed for plant height in both the cuts, indicating, this trait to be controlled by additive gene action and thus can be improved through selection, while, moderate heritability and high GA was observed for DFY at first cut; for green forage yield (GFY) at second cut and for total green forage yield (TGFY) from both the cuts, hence improvement in these traits will be possible through selection at later generations

Three-Way Top-Cross Hybrids to Enhance Production of Forage with Improved Quality in Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.)

Three-way top-cross hybrids of pearl millet were evaluated along with a popular single- cross check hybrid (PAC 981) for forage yield and quality traits under a multi-cut (three cuts) system across multiple years, seasons and sites in India. Total green forage yield (TGFY) varied from 36 to 53 t ha−1, and two hybrids outyielded the check hybrid for both total dry forage yield (TDFY) and forage quality (CP; Crude protein, and IVOMD; In vitro organic matter digestibility) traits. A set of promising three-way top-cross hybrids evaluated along with a set of promising open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) and top-cross hybrids for forage-related traits over two years under a multi-cut system revealed that the mean TDFY of three-way top-cross hybrids was higher than the mean TDFY of top-cross hybrids, followed by OPVs. Also, three-way top-cross hybrids had higher/or at par forage quality traits such as CP and IVOMD in comparison to other types of cultivars. TDFY had no correlation with CP and IVOMD across cuts in three-way top-cross hybrids, indicating that forage quantity and quality traits can be improved independently of each other. Overall, three-way top-cross hybrids were found to be a better pearl millet cultivar option than other types of cultivars

Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis of Biomass Yield and Quality Traits in Forage Type Hybrid Parents of Pearl Millet

One hundred and sixteen forage type hybrid parents (seed and pollinator parents) were investigated at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), India, in summer seasons of 2015 and 2016 for estimating inter-relationships between forage quantity and quality traits and their direct and indirect effects. Significant negative correlation but of low value was found between crude protein (CP), In vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and dry forage yield (DFY). The direct and indirect effect of these forage quantity related traits on the DFY and other forage quality related traits on IVOMD was investigated in pearl millet. Path analysis revealed that total green forage yield (TGFY) had highest positive direct effect on DFY for forage quantity traits followed by plant height (PH). For forage quality traits, metabolizable energy (ME) had highest direct effect on IVOMD in both the cuts. CP and cellulose also had positive direct effects on IVOMD in both the cuts

Marker-aided selection and validation of various Pi gene combinations for rice blast resistance in elite rice variety ADT 43

Rice blast caused by fungal pathogen Pyricularia oryzae has a major impact on reducing yield potential of rice. In this study, homozygous plants were selected using microsatellite markers from the BC3F2 population pyramided with four major genes in elite rice variety ADT 43. Background and selected lines with various blast resistance gene combinations were screened under natural conditions to study the effects of various gene combinations. Upon inspection of lines with different gene combinations, the three-gene pyramided line Pi54+Pi33+Pi1 was found to be highly resistant with the score of 3.3 followed by other three-gene pyramided lines Pi54+Pi2+Pi1 and Pi33+Pi2+Pi1, with the scores of 3.9 and 3.8, respectively. Two-gene pyramided lines Pi54+Pi1, Pi33+Pi1 and Pi2+Pi1 were found to be moderately resistant with a mean score of 4.0 each. In the case of monogenic lines, positive plants for Pi54 performed almost equal to three-gene pyramided lines with a mean score of 3.6. Lines with Pi2 and Pi1 were found to be moderately resistant and moderately susceptible with the mean scores of 4.1 and 4.5, respectively

Genotypic Variation in Forage Linked Morphological and Biochemical Traits in Hybrid Parents of Pearl Millet

A set of 116 pearl millet hybrid parents was evaluated in two summer seasons for 30 forage specific morphological and quality traits. Green forage yield (GFY) ranged from 15.0 to 29.0 t/ha at first cut and 12.0 to 42.0 t/ha at second cut, while the dry forage yield (DFY) ranged from 3.0 to 6.0 t/ha at first cut and 5.0 to 9.0 t/ha at second cut. Important forage quality traits like stover nitrogen varied from 1.84 to 2.34% at first cut and 1.77 to 2.00% at second cut, while metabolizable energy (ME) ranged from 7.42 to 7.76 MJ/kg at first cut and 6.95 to 7.68 MJ/kg at second cut. In vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) varied from 54.0 to 56.0% at first cut and 51.0 to 55.0% at second cut. Pollinator parents showed higher mean values for most of the forage traits than the seed parents. Small but significant negative correlation was found between crude protein (CP), IVOMD and DFY indicating that modifications are needed to breed for higher forage biomass coupled with better forage quality traits. Hierarchical cluster analysis based on forage specific morphological and quality traits delineated 116 pearl millet hybrid parents into 6 distinct clusters. This evaluation identified clusters of hybrid parents having high mean values for specific promising forage quality traits, this information can be used for developing promising forage-type hybrids in pearl millet

Understanding Heterosis, Genetic Effects, and Genome Wide Associations for Forage Quantity and Quality Traits in Multi-Cut Pearl Millet

Pearl millet is an important food and fodder crop cultivated in the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia, and is now expanding to other regions for forage purpose. This study was conducted to better understand the forage quantity and quality traits to enhance the feed value of this crop. Two sets of pearl millet hybrids (80 single cross hybrids in Set-I and 50 top cross hybrids in Set-II) along with their parents evaluated multi-locationally for the forage-linked traits under multi-cut (two cuts) system revealed significant variability for the forage traits in the hybrids and parents. The mean better parent heterosis (BPH) for total dry forage yield (TDFY) was 136% across all the single cross hybrids and 57% across all the top cross hybrids. The mean BPH for in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) varied fro