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ICRISAT Archival Report 2006 - The seedlings of success in the ...

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selected by <strong>the</strong>se companies with a total <strong>of</strong> 5420 seed samples as some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> l<strong>in</strong>es were selected by more than one<br />

seed company (more than 7 companies requested a few l<strong>in</strong>es).<br />

International tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g course on pearl millet improvement and seed production: An <strong>in</strong>ternational tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g<br />

course on pearl millet improvement and seed production was held on 2−15 May <strong>2006</strong> at <strong>ICRISAT</strong>, Patancheru. <strong>The</strong><br />

course was <strong>in</strong>itially co-sponsored by <strong>the</strong> FAO. Subsequently, INTSORMIL, USA; ICBA, Dubai, <strong>The</strong> Sehgal<br />

Foundation, India; and Syngenta Foundation, Switzerland also co-sponsored this course. Besides <strong>ICRISAT</strong> scientists<br />

(11), resource scientists from national (3) and private sector (8) <strong>in</strong> India, along with one scientist from USA, were<br />

<strong>in</strong>cluded as resource persons for <strong>the</strong> tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g. About 40 tra<strong>in</strong>ees (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g 5 women) from 15 countries participated<br />

<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, <strong>of</strong> which 19 participants were from private seed companies and 9 from public sector <strong>in</strong>stitutions<br />

with<strong>in</strong> India; 7 from Africa; 4 from Middle-East; and one each from USA, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Myanmar. <strong>The</strong><br />

tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g course consisted <strong>of</strong> several lectures, practical classes, visits to field and private seed companies and group<br />

discussions. <strong>The</strong> <strong>success</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g course was evaluated by provid<strong>in</strong>g questionnaires to <strong>the</strong> participants. In a<br />

group exercise, <strong>the</strong>y also identified 11 major constra<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>in</strong> pearl millet production. Six participants also took <strong>the</strong><br />

opportunity to select more than 500 breed<strong>in</strong>g l<strong>in</strong>es (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g hybrid parental l<strong>in</strong>es, improved populations and<br />

germplasm accessions) and also requested for <strong>ICRISAT</strong>’s assistance <strong>in</strong> supply<strong>in</strong>g breed<strong>in</strong>g materials, organiz<strong>in</strong>g<br />

drought and sal<strong>in</strong>ity nurseries, and guid<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>ir breed<strong>in</strong>g programs. <strong>The</strong> general op<strong>in</strong>ion was to conduct this<br />

tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g course once <strong>in</strong> 3 years. Participants also suggested for conduct<strong>in</strong>g similar tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g courses <strong>in</strong> biotechnology<br />

and data analyses.<br />

KN Rai, CLL Gowda and Pearl Millet Team<br />

Milestone 5A.8.1.4: Technical <strong>in</strong>formation and public awareness documents developed and dissem<strong>in</strong>ated<br />

(KNR/CLLG/Pearl Millet Team, annual)<br />

Two flyers were prepared <strong>in</strong> collaboration with <strong>the</strong> International Center for Biosal<strong>in</strong>e Agriculture (ICBA). One <strong>of</strong><br />

this deals with sal<strong>in</strong>ity tolerance <strong>of</strong> sorghum and pearl millet and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r one deals with <strong>the</strong> prospects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se<br />

crops <strong>in</strong> Central Asia. A booklet describ<strong>in</strong>g pearl millet cultivars for dry environments was brought out as a jo<strong>in</strong>t<br />

publication <strong>of</strong> <strong>ICRISAT</strong> and ICAR. Pearl millet as a highly nutritious cereal for gra<strong>in</strong> iron and z<strong>in</strong>c was publicized<br />

through a poster at <strong>the</strong> International Plant Breed<strong>in</strong>g Symposium <strong>in</strong> Mexico.<br />

Milestone 5A.8.1.5: Commercialization <strong>of</strong> pearl millet gra<strong>in</strong>s streng<strong>the</strong>ned through researcher-farmer-<strong>in</strong>dustry<br />

alliances (KNR/CLLG/Pearl Millet Team, annual)<br />

Plans were developed under <strong>the</strong> CFC-funded project for on-farm trials <strong>of</strong> pearl millet <strong>in</strong> Andhra Pradesh (AP) and<br />

Maharashtra village clusters to enhance pearl millet productivity through cultivar replacement and micronutrient<br />

applications. Based on <strong>the</strong> results dur<strong>in</strong>g 2005, <strong>the</strong> popular pearl millet variety ICTP 8203 <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> AP village clusters<br />

was almost completely replaced with a pearl millet hybrid (MLBH 308) that showed substantial yield advantage.<br />

<strong>The</strong> data on <strong>the</strong> gra<strong>in</strong> and fodder yield <strong>of</strong> new cultivars over those grown by <strong>the</strong> farmers (both with and without<br />

micronutrient applications) were collected to exam<strong>in</strong>e <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>come generation values <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> recommended practices.<br />

III. Pigeonpea<br />

Output Target 5A.1: About 15 high-yield<strong>in</strong>g pigeonpea hybrids made available for cultivation <strong>in</strong> different<br />

environments (<strong>2006</strong>-2009).<br />

Activity 5A.1.1: Development <strong>of</strong> widely adapted high-yield<strong>in</strong>g hybrids for different environments.<br />

Milestone 5A.1.1.1: At least 100 new hybrid comb<strong>in</strong>ations evaluated to identify new fertility restorers/male sterility<br />

ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong>ers (KBS/KML, <strong>2006</strong>-09)<br />

Dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>2006</strong> ra<strong>in</strong>y season, 227 short-duration and 234 medium-duration new hybrids were evaluated for fertility<br />

restoration. Of <strong>the</strong>se, 298 hybrids (64.6%) had full pollen fertility and 33 (7.2%) were male-sterile, while <strong>the</strong><br />

rema<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g segregated for male-fertility and sterility <strong>in</strong> various proportions. All <strong>the</strong> male-sterile F 1 s were<br />

backcrossed to <strong>the</strong>ir respective male-parents to produce BC 1 F 1 seed for <strong>the</strong> diversification <strong>of</strong> A-l<strong>in</strong>es. Among <strong>the</strong><br />

157

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