Studies on the general and specific combining ability effects of the parents and crosses in Pigeonpea

Introduction

Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp], (2n=2x=22) also known as arhar, tur and red gram, is nutritionally balanced and an exceptional source of protein in both green pea and dried grain (Faris and Singh, 1990) [13] . Along with protein, pigeonpea also renders carbohydrates and Vitamin A and C (Faris et al. 1987) [14] . Pigeonpea seeds are rich in proteins (generally within a range of 18 to 25% and as high as 32%), carbohydrates (57.6%), fiber (1.5%), minerals (3.5%), amino acids, methionine and cystine (Birk, 1993) [8] . Because of it rich source of protein, it is an ultimate addition to traditional cereal, banana or tuber-based diets of poor farmers that are protein deficient. Its ability to produce economic yield under limited moisture condition makes it an important crop of dryland agriculture. Globally the area and production of pigeonpea has increased from 2.86 million ha and 1.96 million tons in 1980 to 4.36 million ha and 3.46 million tons in 2006, respectively (FAO Stat, 2008) [10] . Pigeonpea represents about 5% of world legume production and more than 70% is being produced in India. Pigeonpea is the second most important pulse crop of India which accounts for 20 percent of the total pulse production in India. In India, pigeonpea is grown in an area around 4.04 million hectare with a production of approximately 2.65 million tons (Anonymous, 2012) [2] . It has registered a production of 4.02 million tons in the year 2017-18 (All India Coordinated Research Project on Pigeonpea, Annual Report 2017-18). As 'dal', pigeonpea is an important constituent of the Indian meal. Of the total pigeonpea production in the world, India alone contributes nearly 92 per cent of it. In India average productivity of pigeonpea is lower (671 kg/ha) compared to the world average productivity (742 kg/ha) even though it leads the world in area and production (FAOSTAT, 2010) [12] . Production of pigeonpea in India is still short which cannot fulfil the present consumption of ~19 million tonnes thereby compelling to import pulses to a range of 1.5-2.0 million tons annually (https://www.agricoop.nic.in, accessed on Feb. 28, 2013). WHO recommendation of per capita availability of protein is 80 g/day (Saroj et al., 2013), while it is only 28 g/day in India which does the ultimate problem of the malnutrition exist among the poor people. The chasm between per capita availability of protein in India and WHO recommendation can be bridge through pulses which is a rich source of protein.

The importance of pulses in Indian agriculture cannot be denied. Of the total pulses, red gram or pigeonpea takes an important place among rainfed resource poor farmers as it provides quality food, fertilizer, fuel wood and fodder. Despite its immense importance in sustainable agriculture its global production per hectare has remained static over last three decades. Lack of efficient management practices coupled with biotic and abiotic stresses has widened the gap between the potential yield and on-farm yield. The conventional breeding procedures followed in pigeon pea brought improvement in seed yield and resistance to diseases and pests. However, for further boost in productivity, the possibility of producing pigeon pea hybrids and identification of superior hybrids through line x tester mating design open up new avenues. The study of heterosis and combining ability helps plant breeders in choosing suitable parents and also helps in understanding the magnitude of gene action involved in the inheritance of quantitative traits of economic importance. Accordingly, the present investigation "Combining ability analysis for vegetable yield and its components in pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]" was undertaken to have the knowledge on nature of combining ability and heterosis for yield and yield attributes in pigeon pea.

Materials and Methods

The experiment entitled "Combining ability analysis for ) with three replications to obtain data on eleven different traits for yield and yield attributes. Simultaneously, the five tester and seven parental lines were grown during kharif 2014-15 in a crossing plot. F 1 hybrids were produced following Line X Tester mating system involving 7 lines and 5 testers by hand emasculation and pollination technique. In the next crop season i.e., Kharif 2015-16, all the seeds of 35 F 1 cross combinations (7 lines x 5 testers) with the 12 parental lines (7 lines and 5 testers) totalling 47 treatments were grown in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications.

Combining ability analysis

The experimental data obtained on each character were subjected to the analysis of variance (Gomez and Gomez, 1984) [15] . After testing the significance of treatment i.e. genotypes including parents and crosses, line x tester analysis for estimation of combining ability was done.

Result and Discussion

Choosing the right parents and using the right breeding techniques are fundamental steps in transferring traits. The parents chosen for the crossing program were assessed according to their gene action in creating superior hybrids. Below is a discussion of various field attributes results

Plant height

The combining ability effects for plant height are presented in Table 4.7.1. The sca effects ranged from -107.94 to 148.28. The maximum sca effects was observed in the cross BRG-2 X BRG-3. (Anithavasline, Y., Suguna, V and Padmavathi, S. 2007) [1] . Table . 1 The gca values of lines and testers ranged from -93.66 to 41.33 and -20.58 to 14.77 respectively. The maximum value of gca in lines and testers were observed in B2-10 and B1-169-1.

Days to 50% flowering

The combining ability effect for Days to 50% flowering is presented in Table 4.7.2. The sca effects ranged from -13.47 to 17.53. The maximum sca effects was observed in the cross BRG2 X BRG3. (Arbad, S. K. Madrap, I. A. Jadhav, P. 2013) [3] . Table . 2

The gca for lines and testers ranged from -4.64 to 8.56 and -3.63 to 2.56, respectively. The maximum value of gca lines and testers were observed in B2-5-2-1 and ICP7035.

Primary branches per plant

The combining ability effects for primary branches is presented in Table 4.7.3. The sca effects ranged from -18.12 to 35.39. The maximum sca effects was observed in the cross BRG2 X BRG3. (Banu, M. R.; Muthaiah, A.R. and Ashok, S. 2006) [4] . Table . 3 The gca lines and testers ranged from -13.45 to 8.73 and -1.45 to 3.49 respectively. The maximum value of gca lines and testers were observed in B1-414-1 and ICP7035, respectively.

Secondary branches per plant

The combining ability effect for secondary branches is presented in Table 4.7.4. The sca effects ranged from -145.59 to 301.09. The maximum sca effects was observed in the cross BRG2 X BRG3. (Barad, H.R., Pithia, M.S and Vachhani, J.H. 2008) [5] . Table . 4 The gca lines and testers ranged from -51.02 to 47.68 and -35.42 to 53.51, respectively. The maximum value of gca lines and testers was observed in B3-13 and ICP7035.

Number of pods per cluster

The combining ability effects for Pods/cluster are presented in Table 4.7.5. The sca effects ranged from -0.86 to 1.01. (Baskaran, K. and Muthian, A. R. 2007) [6] . Table . 5 The maximum positive significant sca effects was recorded in the cross between B1-66-1 X ICP7035. The gca (lines) and gca (testers) ranged from -0.71 to 0.62 and -0.34 to 0.32, respectively and maximum value was recorded in B3-13 and ICP7035.

Number of pods per plant

The combining ability effects for pods/plant are presented in Table 4.7.6. The sca effects ranged from -107.72 to 212.82(Bhavani, N.L. and Bhalla, J.K. 2010) [7] . Table. 6 The maximum positive significant sca effects was recorded in the cross between BRG 2 X BRG 3. The gca (lines) and gca (testers) ranged from -41.92 to 50.81 and -28.47 to 51.47, respectively and maximum was recorded in B3-13 and ICP7035.

Number of seeds per pod

The combining ability effects for seeds/pod are presented in Table 4.7.7. The sca effects ranged from -0.66 to 0.91. (Chaudhari, K.N., Chauhan, R.M. and Prajapati, B.H. 2004) [9] Table. 7 The maximum positive significant sca effects was recorded in the cross between B1-51 X ICP7035. The gca (lines) and gca (testers) ranged from -0.69 to 0.38 and -0.41 to 0.35, respectively and maximum was recorded in B1-141-1 and ICP7035.

Seed weight

The combining ability effects for 100 seed weight are presented in Table 4.7.8. The sca effects ranged from -2.36 to 2.76. (Gupta DK, Acharya S and Patel JB 2011) [16] Table . 8. The maximum positive significant sca effects was recorded in the cross between B1-51 X ICP7035. The gca (lines) and gca (testers) ranged from -0.94 to 0.69 and -0.82 to 0.65, respectively and maximum was recorded in B1-66-1 and B2-106-1.

Green pod yield per plant

The combining ability effects for green pod yield/ plant are presented in Table 4.7.9. The sca effects ranged from -282.22 to 567.27. (Jahagirdar, J. E. 2003) [17] Table.9

The maximum positive significant sca effects were recorded in the cross between BRG2 X BRG3. The gca (lines) and gca (testers) ranged from -102.99 to 120.79 and -86.81 to 130.27, respectively and maximum were recorded in B1-141-1 and ICP7035.

References

1. Anithavasline Y, Suguna V, Padmavathi S. Combining ability for seed yield and its components in greengram (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek). Crop Improvement. 2007;34(2):163-165.
2. Anonymous. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. New Delhi; 2012.
3. Arbad SK, Madrap IA, Jadhav P. Combining ability for yield and yield contributing characters in pigeonpea. International Journal of Agricultural Sciences. 2013;9(1):252-255.
4. Banu MR, Muthaiah AR, Ashok S. Combining ability studies in pigeonpea. Crop Research. 2006;31(3):396398.
5. Barad HR, Pithia MS, Vachhani JH. Heterosis and combining ability studies for economic traits in genetically diverse lines of mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek). Legume Research. 2008;31(1):68-71.
6. Baskaran K, Muthian AR. Studies on combining ability in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.). Legume Research. 2007;30(1):67-69.
7. Bhavani NL, Bhalla JK. Combining ability analysis for yield and yield components in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.). Advances in Plant Science. 2010;23(1):257259.
8. Costa MA, editors. Advances in lupin research. Proceedings of the 7th Lupin Conference; 1993 Apr 1823;
9. Chaudhari KN, Chauhan RM, Prajapati BH. Combining ability analysis in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.). Journal of Bioscience Reporter. 2004;2(2):304-308.
10. FAO. FAOSTAT database. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization; 2008.
11. FAO. FAOSTAT database. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization; 2009.
12. FAOSTAT. Online agricultural statistics. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization; 2010.
13. Faris DG, Singh U. Pigeonpea: nutrition and products. In: Nene YL, Hall SD, Sheela VK, editors. The pigeonpea. Patancheru (India): ICRISAT; Wallingford (UK): CAB International; 1990. p. 401-433.
14. Faris DG, Saxena KB, Mazumdar S, Singh U. Vegetable pigeonpea: a promising crop for India. Patancheru (India): ICRISAT; 1987. p. 3-3.
15. Gomez KA, Gomez AA. Statistical procedures for agricultural research. New York: John Wiley and Sons; 1984.
16. Gupta DK, Acharya S, Patel JB. Combining ability and heterosis studies in pigeonpea using A2 cytoplasm from Cajanus scarabaeoides as source of male sterility. Food Legumes. 2011;24:58-64.
17. Jahagirdar JE. Line × tester analysis for combining ability in pigeonpea. Indian Journal of Pulse Research. 2003;16(1):17-19.