Field Evaluation of Promising Pearl Millet Hybrids and Varieties against Blast

The pearl millet is one of the important cereal crop grown mainly in kharif season. It is grown for its grain and fodder but its production is hampered by the Blast disease caused by Pyricularia grisea, blast has become a serious problem in past years so, the 35 promising hybrids / varieties were evaluated in the field condition against the P. grisea at college of agriculture, RVSKVV, Gwalior in two consecutive years kharif 2022 and 2023. The experiment was conducted using Randomised block design (RBD) with two replications. Disease was measured in Percent Disease Index (PDI) at 60 days after sowing. None of the hybrids/ varieties were found free from the disease in both the years of testing. During 2022 the minimum blast PDI was recorded in the hybrid/ varieties 86M94 (16.67%) which was superior over 28 entries and during 2023 the minimum blast PDI was noted in 86M20 (10.00%) followed by 86M94(10.22%) which was significantly superior over 22 entries. Also, the mean blast PDI across the hybrids and varieties during the year 2022 and 2023 was (40.09%) and (28.87%) which clearly indicate that the pressure of disease was less in the year 2023 than in 2022. However, on the basis of two years pooled data the minimum blast PDI was recorded in 86m94 (13.44%) while it was maximum in Pratap (61.33%). 86M94 was significantly superior over 22 entries viz., NBH 27, MPMH-17, MP-7878, MP-7792, JBV-2, Krishna 7711, AHB-1200, RHB-233, PB I756, PB 1705, ICMV 1555, Raj 171, 86M01, HHB 67 improved, JVB-4, MPMH-21, AHB-1269, RHB- 234, JVB-3, Dhanshakti, Proagro-9444 and Pratap (MH-1642) while, it was statistically at par with the 12 entries viz, 86M95, 86M13, 86M96, 86M84, Proagro 9001, 86M20, KBH-108, PB1852, 86M89, 86M86, Pusa comp-612 and ABV-04. Hybrid 86M94 was found numerical best against blast and showed consistent performance in both the years of testing.