ICRISAT Hybrid Pigeonpea to Boost Production of Pulse Crop

The low productivity of pigeonpea remains a major concern of many countries that consume this pulse crop (legume). A new hybrid pigeonpea technology, developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and partners offers a hope of starting a pulse crop revolution in India and other developing countries by substantially increasing pigeonpea production.

The new hybrid technology is based on the cytoplasmic male-sterility (CMS) system. Male-sterile plants are those that do not have functional male sex organs. For hybrid production to be successful, it requires a female plant in which no viable pollen grains are borne. A simple way to establish a female line for hybrid seed production is to identify or create a line that is unable to produce viable pollen. This male-sterile line is therefore unable to self-pollinate, and seed formation is dependent upon pollen from the other male fertile line. So far the progress in the mission of enhancing the productivity of pigeonpea has been very encouraging and the team at ICRISAT is confident that the reality of commercial hybrids is just around the corner.

The news article is available at http://www.icrisat.org/Media/2007/media6.htm.