Understanding Heterosis, Genetic Effects, and Genome Wide Associations for Forage Quantity and Quality Traits in Multi-Cut Pearl Millet.

Pearl millet is an important food and fodder crop cultivated in the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia, and is now expanding to other regions for forage purpose. This study was conducted to better understand the forage quantity and quality traits to enhance the feed value of this crop. Two sets of pearl millet hybrids (80 single cross hybrids in Set-I and 50 top cross hybrids in Set-II) along with their parents evaluated multi-locationally for the forage-linked traits under multi-cut (two cuts) system revealed significant variability for the forage traits in the hybrids and parents.

Marker-aided selection and validation of various gene combinations for rice blast resistance in elite rice variety ADT 43.

Rice blast caused by fungal pathogen has a major impact on reducing yield potential of rice. In this study, homozygous plants were selected using microsatellite markers from the BCF population pyramided with four major genes in elite rice variety ADT 43. Background and selected lines with various blast resistance gene combinations were screened under natural conditions to study the effects of various gene combinations.