Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding
Crop landraces are considered as a good germplasm
source for adaptation to prevalent stress conditions. In
this study, 105 landraces of pearl millet [Pennisetum
glaucum (L.) R. Sr.] were evaluated under drought stress
and optimum (non-stress) conditions to elucidate their
response to drought and to identify the traits that are
associated with drought tolerance/escape. The landraces
differed significantly for flowering time, yield-contributing
traits and yielding ability under stress and non-stress
conditions. There was a wide range in the drought response
index (-8.5 to 13.9) among the landraces and it accounted
for 73% of variation in grain yield obtained under stress
conditions. Yielding ability of the landraces depended
upon different characters in the presence and absence
of drought stress emphasising manipulations of different
traits for enhancing yield under stress and non-stress
conditions. Higher panicle number and greater biomass
accumulation proved to be the target traits for improving
grain yield under stress but not for enhancing yield under
non-stress conditions. Higher individual grain mass was
associated with drought escape, while higher grain number
panicle-1 and harvest index were associated with drought
tolerance. The landraces having high degree of drought
tolerance have been identified for use in developing
drought tolerant cultivars
Keywords: Pearl millet, landrace, drought tolerance, adaptation, stress environments
Year: 2003
Volume: 63
Issue: 1
Article DOI: NA
Print ISSN: 0019-5200
Online ISSN: 0975-6906
O. P. Yadav, E. Weltzien-Rattunde and F. R. Bidinger info_circle
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