%K Germplasm regeneration; Pearl millet; Pollination control;
Seed longevity; Water stress
%A N K Rao
%A P J Bramel
%A K N Reddy
%A S D Singh
%A A G Girish
%A S A Rao
%A V Mahalakshmi
%I Kluwer Academic
%V 49
%L icrisat6426
%J Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution
%N 2
%P 153-157
%D 2002
%X The effect of water stress during flowering and grain filling on seed longevity was studied in three pearl millet genotypes,ICTP-8202, ICTP-8203 and MBH-110. The seeds were produced by three pollination methods; open pollination, selfing(individual panicles enclosed in paper bags), and cluster bagging (panicles from 3–4 adjacent plants enclosed in a paper bag), stored in air-tight plastic bottles underambient conditions (20–40 °C,30–80%RH) and germination was tested at 12-month'sintervals. The seeds lost germination completely after six years ofstorage in all treatments. Analysis of variance of the estimates of potential seed longevity (i.e. the seed lot constantK i of the seed viabilityequation) showed significant effects of water stress andpollination method (P < 0.01). The interaction between irrigation treatment and method of pollination control was also significant (P < 0.05). Averaged over genotypes and pollination methods,potential longevity was greatest(K i = 2.8) in theirrigated control, and averaged over genotypes and irrigationtreatments, it was greatest (K i= 3.1) in seeds produced by open pollination. Theimplications of these results were discussed in relation to germplasmseed production
%T Optimizing seed quality during germplasm regeneration in pearl millet