Elucidation of Heterosis for Seed Yield and its Attributes in Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]

Background: Pigeonpea is one of India’s most essential pulse crops and it is the handiest food legume with widespread uses as food, feed, fodder and fuel. To fulfil the peoples nutrient demand, the urgent need for developing nutritious and higher productive cultivar become imperative. Therefore, this research paper seeks to explore heterotic effects of various cross among the traits in pigeonpea, with the ultimate goal of advancing the development of enhanced varieties. Methods: An experiment was conducted in pigeonpea using Line ´ Tester mating design to carried out heterosis analysis. 20 hybrids were developed by using five female lines crossed with four male testers. Result: The analysis of variances revealed significant differences of genotypes for all characters studied, indicating sufficient genetic variability for the characters. Crosses viz, GT 102 ´ SKNP 1408 and GT 103 ´ BDN 2004-01 were found to be the exerted good amounts of heterosis, heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis for yield and its attributes. The hybrid GT 102 ´ SKNP 1408 was found the most promising and may be exploited in further breeding programmes for pigeonpea.