Large-scale testing of rust-resistant groundnut lines suggested by Karnataka agriculture minister
Mr Byre Gowda visited the trial plots of molecular breeding lines in groundnut at the
University of Agricultural Sciences-Dharwad, Karnataka. Photo: ICRISAT
With the groundnut lines improved for rust resistance developed by ICRISAT and partners (see box) performing very well in the state of Karnataka, Mr Krishna Byre Gowda, the agricultural minister, suggested that the next step was large-scale testing in the farmers’ fields.
Mr Byre Gowda visited the trial plots of molecular breeding lines in groundnut at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS)-Dharwad.
The three popular groundnut varieties namely ICGV 91114, TAG 24 and JL 24 were successfully improved for rust resistance by using molecular breeding approach. Promising lines were nominated for the first time in the All India Coordinated Research Project on Groundnut (AICRP-G) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and these lines are under evaluation at different locations of India, including UAS-Dharwad.
The selected groundnut introgression lines recorded higher pod yield over the state check varieties, GPBD 4 and G 2-52, under both irrigated and rainfed conditions. The introgression lines recorded pod yield of 6.8 tons per ha which is 26% higher than GPBD 4 (5.4 tons per ha) and 46% over G 2-52 (4.8 tons per ha) under irrigated conditions. Under rainfed conditions, introgression lines recorded a pod yield of 5.8 tons per ha, which is 29% higher than GPBD 4 (4.1 tons per ha) and 40% over G 2-52 (3.6 tons per ha) under rainfed conditions.
The delegation that accompanied the minister on 24 October included Dr DP Biradar, Vice Chancellor, UAS-Dharwad; Dr PM Salimath, Vice Chancellor, UAS- Raichur; Mr Ashok Dalwai, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India and many other senior officials from UAS-Dharwad. The ICRISAT delegation included Dr David Bergvinson, Director General; Dr Rajeev K Varshney, Research Program Director-Genetic Gains; Dr SP Wani, Research Program Director, Asia Program and Theme Leader, IDC; Dr K Krishnappa, Resident Scientist and Dr Manish Pandey, Scientist-Groundnut Genomics. The team from UAS-Dharwad included Dr HL Nadaf, Dr Ramesh Bhat and other senior scientists.
For more information on groundnut click here
For previous work on groundnut breeding click here
