Studies on efficiency of artificial hybridization in groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.)

Abstract

Groundnut being an important oilseed crop worldwide poses many challenges in its improvement. One suchfactor is hybridization. The crop produces self-pollinated papilionaceous flowers for the crossing of which handemasculation and dusting are the best methods employed. In the present study, 10 cultivars of groundnut varyingin agronomic traits were crossed in L × T fashion of 5 × 5 set to obtain 25 crosses to study the efficiency ofhybridization. The F1s of the crosses were raised and their truthfulness was identified and confirmed by thevarying traits between male and female parent and also at the molecular level. Hybridization success rate recordeda range of 25.4% to 42.3%.