Enhancing hybridization potential through standardizing emasculation techniques and molecular marker integration in finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.)

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) has been cultivated for thousands of years in semi-arid regions of Asia and Africa. The grains have immense nutritional potential, but the genetic gains needed for high yield are yet to be realized. In the absence of an efficient crossing technique, recombination breeding is still challenging in finger millet genetic improvement programs, owing to its small floret size and highly self-fertilizing nature. In this study, we evaluated three different emasculation methods for finger millet, including a modified hot water technique and different concentrations of two gametocides, trifluoromethanesulfonamide (TFMSA) and gibberellic acid (GA3) at different plant growth stages. The study revealed a successful emasculation rate of up to 80% using modified hot water treatment at 52 °C for 2 min, when treated on the second day of anthesis in the designated panicles. Further, a similar success rate was noted with a single dose of TFMSA @ 10 mg or two doses of GA3 @ 1500 ppm applied during the booting stage (7–9 days prior to panicle emergence). To validate the efficiency of these hybridization methods and to test the genetic purity of hybrids generated in this study, a set of 10 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were used. These improved emasculation methods (Modified hot water, TFMSA, GA3) integrated with molecular markers for hybridity testing represent an important step forward in finger millet crop improvement.