Combining Ability and Heterosis for Grain Yield and its Component Traits in Finger Millet under Irrigated Conditions

摘要

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn] is a widely cultivated crop of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. India is the largest producer of finger millet in the world. Africa, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, China and Japan, arethe other finger millet growing countries. In India, it is cultivated on 2 million ha with a production of 2.8 million t and productivity of 1.5 t ha~(-1) (Senthil et al. 2005). Finger millet is a major source of grain and fodder and is an indispensablecrop in semi-arid tropical region of several states in India. Its grains have high nutritive value. Combining ability has been extensively used for choosing suitable parents in crossing programs to combine traits of interest in high-yielding background.Combining ability analysis also provides estimates of genotypic variance components, useful for genetic enhancement of crops. Considering that hybrids offer good opportunity to improve yield levels, as evident from several other self-pollinated crops such as ri e and sorghum, evaluation of hybrid potential within finger millet was undertaken. The present study assessed the combining ability, nature of gene action and the extent of heterosis for yield and its components within select finger millets.