STABILIZATION AND TRANSFER OF MALE STERILITY INTO THE BACK GROUND OF LOCALLY ADOPTED CULTIVARS OF PIGEONPEA [CAJANUS CAJAN (L) MILLSP.].

The present investigation was carried out during 2009-2010 at the Agricultural Research Station, Aland Road, Gulbarga (16° 2′ N, 76° 42′ E, 443 m elevation) located in North Eastern Dry Zone (Zone-2) of Karnataka. The 12 F₁'s were studied under the insect proof condition with the objective of transferring the male sterility into the back ground of locally adopted cultivars for developing stable male sterile lines. The cent per cent male sterility was found in two F₁'s combinations viz., GT- 288A × Maruti and ICPA-2078 × WRP-1. As these crosses showed maximum sterility they can be effectively used for back cross with its respective recurrent parent. In further back crossing sterile back ground of recurrent parent genome can be recovered along with male sterility. The plant to plant crosses of BC₄F₁ and BC₅F₁ generations studied revealed that there was no single cross which exhibited cent per cent male sterility or not even near to 99 per cent male sterility. There is no drastic improvement in male sterility from the previous generations to present. Hence it is not worthy to carry out back crossing for further generations. Therefore, these lines cannot be used in further hybrid breeding programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]