Pigeonpea improvement through conventional breeding

Abstract

Contributions made through conventional breeding have
been of great significance in the development of pigeon
varieties for diverse agro ecological regions in the country.
The available genetic variability has been exploited to its
full potential for enhancing trait based genetic improvement.
However, the on farm productivity and production has
remained low due to several constraints including the plant
architecture, early maturity, disease and insect pest
resistance. Hence, to breed cultivars having high agronomic
performance with broad genetic base for specific regions,
new sources of genetic variability need to be tapped. Wild
species of Cajanus present a vast reservoir of useful genes
for pigeonpea improvement. Heterosis breeding has
enormous scope to break the yield barrier and enhancing
potential but there is great need to identify heterotic parents
to be used as MS lines and their respective restorers.
However the major challenges are still being faced to answer
genetic solutions for achieving yield potential through early
maturity restructuring the plant type and resistance
breeding to pave the way for sustainability in pigeon pea
production.