Studies on fertility restoration involving diverse sources of cytoplasm and restorers in pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. BR.]

A total of 60 diverse restorer lines were crossed to five diverse sources of male sterile lines representing A1 (841A, ICMA94222 and 863A), A4 (ICMA01555) and PT732A (Bellary) cytoplasmic sources. The average seed set percentage was highest on PT732A (68.46) followed by A1 (62.29) and A4 (44.25) cytoplasm sources. The comparative results indicate that high to partial restoration is possible in all the cytoplasms but very high restoration (>90%), was observed in crosses of PT732A and A4 cytoplasm and their mean seed set per cent was maximum in A4 and PT732A cytoplasm compared to A1 cytoplasm. It is also observed that the majority of male parents showed high restorers on three male sterile cytoplasm among them SGRLT-17, A4RLT-20 and PDRLT-11 are acting as strong restorers for PT732A cytoplasm and EMRLT-127, EMRLT-105, on A4 source. The overall results indicate the scope of utilization of PT732A and A4 cytoplasm as an alternative source of male sterility to develop commercial hybrids in Pearl millet.