www.IndianJournals.com Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale Downloaded From IP - 61.247.228.217 on dated 27-Jun-2017 Indian J. Genet., 70(2): 120-124 (2010) Evaluation of landraces and elite populations of pearl millet for their potential in genetic improvement for adaptation to drought-prone environments O. P. Yadav Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur 342 003 (Received: December 2009; Revised: March 2010; Accepted: May 2010) Abstract Pearl millet growing regions in north-western India are characteristically drought-prone which emphasizes the importance of drought tolerance for pearl millet cultivars targeted for these regions. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of five each of landraces and elite composites by evaluating their 25 crosses under drought conditions of arid zone for three years. Variation in landraces and elite composites accounted for more than 60% of variation in crosses for various traits. Both landraces and elite composites possessed contrasting GCA effects showing their differential ability to produce crosses adapted to drought environments. While the landrace 220 had significant and positive effects for biomass and stover yield, the landrace 184 had significant negative effects for biomass, grain and stover yields. The landraces 235 and 238 largely produced grain type materials. Elite composites, in general, had much lesser effects than landraces. The elite composite 923 had maximum positive effects for grain yield which was presumably due to its positive significant effects for harvest index and average effect for biomass. The composite HHVBC had highest desirable effects for stover yield and hence can be a potential source of improving stover yield in the genetic background of elite material. The results showed that there existed exploitable differences in landraces and elite composites which can be utilized in genetic improvement for adaptation to drought-prone environments. Key words: Pearl millet, drought tolerance, landraces, genetic diversification, adaptation Introduction The arid regions of north-western India represent one- third area of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] in India. These regions receive very low annual rainfall (200-400 mm) and distribution of rains during the crop season is also erratic [1]. High evaporational losses and low water-holding capacity of soils further amplify the moisture stress which seriously affects pearl millet growth and yields. This situation emphasizes the importance of drought tolerance for pearl millet cultivars targeted for arid regions. The landraces commonly grown in western Rajasthan are good sources of drought tolerance [2] but often fail to respond to better environments. On the other hand, elite genotypes have much higher yield potential expressed under optimum growing conditions but may not necessarily possess the required levels of drought adaptation [3-5]. As a result, a high cross-over genotype x environment interactions are often encountered in pearl millet with adapted landraces significantly outyielding elite materials in severe drought stress environments and elite material providing higher yields in optimum environments [6-8]. Hence genetic diversification of landraces using elite genetic materials has been suggested as an alternative approach [9] to amalgamate drought tolerance and high yield [10]. This study was, therefore, conducted to evaluate effects of selected landraces and elite composites in producing crosses that provide high grain and stover yields under drought conditions of arid regions. Materials and methods Five landraces and five elite composites were chosen for this study. The landraces 108, 184, 221, 225 and 238 were collected from western Rajasthan between 2001 and 2003 [11]. The elite composites included Corresponding author’s e-mail: opyadav21@yahoo.com, opyadav@cazri.res.in Published by Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding, F2, First Floor, NASC Complex, PB#11312, IARI, New Delhi 110 012 Online management by indianjournals.com