Heterosis and Heterozygosis in Pearl Millet Forage Production 1

Abstract

Well-established inbred lines of pearl millet, Pennisetum typhoides, were used to develop seed lots with 0, 50, 75, and 100% heterozygosity. Total annual forage yields (three or four cuttings per year) from drilled plots of these seed lots in lattice-square experiments supplied the data considered. In a 3-year test, involving the four 'Gahi-1' inbreds and their six possible F₁'s and F₂'s, the F₁'s and F₂'s produced 70.9 and 33.5% more forage than their inbred parents. In three other tests involving 36, 34, and 36 hybrids, relative average F₁ and F₂ yields exceeded the parent yields by 64.5 and 31.7; 53.2 and 28.6; and 73.1 and 35.6%, respectively. In another 2-year study, where all possible seed lots with 0, 50, 75, and 100% heterozygosity were produced from four inbred lines, average relative forage yields for lots with 0, 50, 75, and 100% heterozygosity were 100.0, 122.0, 130.6, and 141.0, respectively. Thus, on the average, heterosis for forage yield in pearl millet closely paralleled the heterozygosis of the material tested. Copyright © . .