Combining ability of ergot resistant mutants of the restorer K 560–230 in pearl millet

Combining ability of twenty mutants of restorer line K 560–230 was studied in line x tester mating design with three male sterile lines as testers MS 5054, MS 5141 and MS 81 and the performance of cross combinations was compared with those of restorer K 560–230. The mutant lines were only those which have recorded below 10% incidence of ergot in contrast of 50% incidence in control under artificial inoculation for two consecutive years. The combining ability analysis of variance revealed the prevalence of both additive and nonadditive gene effects. The mutant lines 50-1 and 45-1 were good general combiners for number of productive tillers, days to flowering and grain yield, and 39-1 for grain yield and days to maturity. The specific crosses 5141 A x 90-1, 5141 A x 142-1, 5141 A x 145-1 and 5141 A x 147-1 showed superior sca effects over the control hybrid MS 5141 A x K 560–230. The present study indicated that mutagens can be used to quickly improve the parents of hybrids for specific traits with an added advantage of induced disease resistance.