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Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) Beauv) is one of the earliest cultivated millet for grain, hay and silage. There is wide genetic diversity available in foxtail millet and characterization of available germplasm is a pre-requisite for the genetic improvement of any crop. Keeping the above fact in view 30 foxtail germplasm lines were evaluated during kharif 2020 and 2021 for morphological traits, stover yield, dry fodder yield and seed yield under rainfed conditions of Haryana. The results (based on pooled data of two years) revealed that enough variability was present among germplasm lines for further exploitation. High heritability and positive correlation was reported between traits like plant height, leaf length, leaf stem ratio, stover yield, grain yield etc. Principal component analysis also revealed that PC1, PC2, PC3, PC4 and PC5 contributed for 31.8%, 15.05%, 12.31%, 11.43% and 10.14%, respectively to the total variation. Five foxtail accessions viz., SEA8, SEA12, SEA48, SEJ184 and SEA37 were identified promising for yield and related traits under rainfed conditions of Haryana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To estimate the extent of genetic diversity of 56 Pearl millet genotypes for eight morphological characters, an experiment was carried out at the research farm of Forage Section, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, CCS HAU, Hisar in kharif 2020-21. In Principal component analysis (PCA) the eigenvalues were used to determine how many factors to retain. In the present study, the first four principal components (PCs) had eigen values greater than one, and they cumulatively explained 71.3% of the total variation present in the original dataset. The first principal component (PC 1) explained 20.30% of the total variability, while the PC 2, PC 3, and PC 4 explained 19.2%, 17.3%, and 14.5% of the total variability, respectively. O 54, O 34, O 25, O 15, and O 40 were found as the topranking genotypes upon PCA analysis with high positive PC1 scores. These genotypes, showed highest overall mean values for the traits positively related to grain yield and its attributing traits. These findings can be useful in formulating breeding strategies for future hybridization programs for yield improvement and are appropriate for classification of diversity among pearl millet germplasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cluster bean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub] is an important leguminous crop of India, accounting for nearly 80% of the global production. The seeds of this economically important crop are used in various industrial applications worldwide like, textile, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, mining, petroleum, natural gas, oil industries etc. Despite such high economic value, the productivity of this crop is quite low. One such major constraint in the production of cluster bean is bacterial leaf blight disease caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. Cyamopsidis. Yield losses of up to 58–68% have been reported in case of severe infestation. Therefore, there is a need to formulate suitable breeding strategies to overcome the yield losses. But the lack of complete understanding of underlying genomic base in cluster bean is a major constraint in developing high-yielding and resistant cultivars/varieties. Here we report the first linkage map construction at the level of interspecific polymorphism using F3-4 segregating population based on Cyamopsis's the basis of microsatellite markers of cluster bean and other legume crops which can further advance the breeding programs. An interspecific cross was developed in our laboratory using a bacterial blight resistant wild species (C. serrata Schinz.) and a moderately susceptible with high gum content cultivar (HG563). A total of 177 SSRs comprising EST-SSRs from cluster bean and ESTs as well genomic SSRs from other legumes were used in molecular analysis and 38 SSRs were found polymorphic. Linkage analysis revealed that nine markers (CBN21, CBN16, CBN17, CTF234, CBN03, CBN11, CTN15, CTN14, and GDR22) formed a single linkage group spanning 190 cM of cluster bean genome. Four minor QTLs were identified in interspecific cross for plant height (qPH1.1), hundred seed weight (qHSW1.1), disease resistance (qPDI1.1), and gum content (qGC1.1) mapped on single linkage group at 39.41, 123.41, 112.41 and 102.41 cM, respectively. The LOD values for all four QTLs ranged from 3.3 to 15.5. (above the threshold LOD > 3.0). Marker interval of CTN15 and CTN14 spanning 35.4–190.0 cM distance harboured all the four QTLs. Interestingly, plant height QTL was found only 4.8 cM apart from CTN 15 SSR marker, which can be exploited further for cluster bean improvement programs in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present investigation was conducted to characterize 20 genotypes of sorghum {Sorghum bicolor (L.) moench} on the basis of 33 morphological characters provided by Protection of Plant Variety & Farmer's Right Act (PPV&FRA) for Distinctiveness Uniformity and Stability (DUS) testing in sorghum. Experimental results revealed that maximum variation was found on the basis of glume colour among the genotypes i.e. G 46, HC 308, HJ 513 had green white, IS 3237, SSG 9, HC 171 had yellow white, SSG 59-3, COFS 29 had grayed purple, S 437-1, SGL-87, S 540-S, SSG (PSSG) had grayed yellow and remaining seven genotypes had grayed orange glume colour. The studied traits showed five genotypes had distinct state of expression. Genotype S-540 showed very high plant height upto the base of flag leaf, HC 136 had compact panicle density at maturity, COFS 29 had very long glume length, SSG 59-3 had distinct expression for days to panicle emergence (50 % of the plants with 50 % of anthesis) and COFS 29 and IS 18551 had short and very long leaf width of blade, respectively. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed principal Factor (PFI) and Principal Factor (PFII) with maximum variability (64.99 %). Classification of genotypes on the basis of DUS traits provided identification of key characteristics of various genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic diversity in the breeding materials is an essential component to improve the efficiency of any crop improvement programme. In present study, 150 seed and restorer parents were evaluated for grain yield and its component traits at two diverse agro-ecologies CCSHAU-Hisar and ICRISAT-Patancheru. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among hybrid parents for all traits. Clustering of hybrid parents clearly partitioned almost all the B- and R-lines into separate groups indicating B- and R-lines to be genetically distant from each other. Further, seed (B-lines) and restorer (Rlines) parents were found distributed in four clusters each, and hybrid parents having same plant type (having similar set of specific traits) were found in same cluster. Significant numbers of hybrid parents having common parent in their pedigrees were found in same cluster. Cluster B-IV of B-lines and cluster R-III of R-lines had higher grain yield and above average performance for other grain linked traits. Grain yield was found to have highly positive significant correlation with all the traits under study for both B- and R-lines, except for effective tillers plant-1. Stover yield followed by panicle girth and panicle length had highest positive direct effect on grain yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The applications of eddy current dampers have been explored in the past few decades due to their non-contact nature which poses several advantages over the conventional hydraulic dampers. This paper discusses the real-time simulation and analysis of an eddy current damper which can be used for the protection of windows and doors against winds and human behavior. The damper consists of a hollow cylindrical conductor and axially magnetized permanent magnets. The equations have been solved to obtain the final velocity of the window in LABVIEW. Decrease in final velocity of the window with damper is calculated at different instants and for different forces. Performance of the damper is compared for different conductors also. The damping coefficient, damping ration and loss of radial flux density in the air gap are also calculated. The results show that the damper can be successfully used as an alternative to the hydraulic dampers for safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]