HETEROSIS IN SINGLE AND THREE-WAY CROSSES IN PIGEONPEA

Abstract

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) is a predominant pulse crop of Indian subcontinent and constitutes a very important source of protein in the vegetarian diets. The grain yield of pigeonpea is generally low due to various physiological and management limitations [1]. The exploitation of hybrid vigour is one ofthe outstanding achievements of plant breeding. Though it has played an important role in allogamous crops, heterosis has been used to an advantage only in a few autogamous crops. Earlier, the emphasis was laid on single-cross hybrids. Recently, interest has been generated in developing three-way hybrids to reduce the cost of seed production and provide a broad genetic base to sustain climatic fluctuations, especially under rainfed cultivation. It is important to study the magnitude and direction of hybrid vigour and compare the performance of singleand threeway crosses in pigeonpea in view of the limited number of studies on the above subject in Wscro~