Combining Ability for Grain Yield and its Components In Pearl Millet

Thirty three lines from a world collection of pearl millet were crossed with three diverse male steriles of Indian and exotic origin. The results revealed that the superior performance of the hybrids depends by and large on the divergence of the parents. Generally, the crosses with high specific combining ability had atleast one of the parents as good combiner. High specific combining ability for yield appears to be related with high specific combining ability for yield components.