Response of grain millet hybrids to environmental diversity and identification of high-yielding stable hybrids

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Research Assistant Professor, Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran

2 Research Assistant Professor, Sistan Agriculture and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Zabol, Iran

3 Research Assistant Professor, South Khorasan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Birjand, Iran

4 Research Associate Professor, Isfahan Agriculture and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Isfahan, Iran

5 Research Associate Professor, Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) is one of the most important crops in warm and arid regions, playing a key role in food security across arid and semi-arid areas of the world. Due to climate change and increasing environmental fluctuations, the need to develop high-yielding and stable hybrids has become more crucial than ever. Given the nature of cross-pollination and high heterosis potential, the development of hybrid cultivars is the main breeding strategy in pearl millet. Hybrid varieties of pearl millet can significantly enhance both yield and stability under diverse agro-climatic conditions. However, it is necessary to assess genotype × environment interaction (GEI) for selecting superior hybrids in different climatic regions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the stability of promising pearl millet hybrids and to identify stable, high-yielding, and well-adapted hybrids for the target regions.

Materials and Methods: The plant materials consisted of eleven promising pearl millet hybrids along with the check cultivar ‘Mehran’. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications across eight environments (four locations, Karaj, Birjand, Isfahan and Zabol, during two cropping seasons, 2022 and 2023). The traits evaluated included days to 50% flowering, plant height, panicle length, panicle diameter, number of tillers, 1000-grain weight, and grain yield. Statistical analyses were performed using SAS software, and mean comparisons were conducted using Duncan’s multiple range test. Stability analysis was also performed using the Lin and Binns, rank-based stability parameters, and GGE-Biplot methods to identify stable and high-yielding hybrids.

Results and Discussion: Combined analysis of variance and comparison of means revealed significant genetic variability among the pearl millet hybrids for all studied traits. The effects of environment and GEI were also significant on all measured traits including grain yield. The results indicated that the studied genotypes exhibited both crossover and non-crossover types of interactions. Comparison of means showed that two hybrids H794 and H824 with 8.41 and 7.81 t.ha-1, respectively, produced the highest grain yield. The results of the stability analysis using rank-based, superiority index, and GGE-Biplot methods showed that two promising hybrids H794 and H824 had the higher grain yield and stability across all studied environments.

Conclusion: This study clearly demonstrated the potential of exploiting heterosis in pearl millet to produce high-yielding hybrid varieties. The results indicated that all evaluated hybrids outperformed the check cultivar ‘Mehran’. Introducing these promising hybrids could significantly enhance the national average grain yield of pearl millet. Moreover, considering the ongoing water scarcity crisis in the country, the dissemination of high-yielding and drought-efficient hybrids could encourage farmers to cultivate this low-water-requirement crop.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Ataei, R., Torabi, M., Ghasemi, A., & Shiri, M. R. (2024). Investigation and feasibility of pearl millet hybrid cultivars development in Iran. Iranian Journal of Field Crop Science, 55(1), 63-73. doi: 10.22059/ijfcs.2023.358056.654999.##Davis, A., Dale, N., & Ferreira, F. (2003). Pearl millet as an alternative feed ingredient in broiler diets. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 12(2), 137-144. doi: 10.1093/japr/12.2.137.##Dawson, J. C., Rivière, P., Berthellot, J.-F., Mercier, F., Kochko, P. d., Galic, N., Pin, S., Serpolay, E., Thomas, M., & Giuliano, S. (2011). Collaborative plant breeding for organic agricultural systems in developed countries. Sustainability, 3(8), 1206-1223. doi: 10.3390/su3081206.##Dias-Martins, A. M., Pessanha, K. L. F., Pacheco, S., Rodrigues, J. A. S., & Carvalho, C. W. P. (2018). Potential use of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) in Brazil: Food security, processing, health benefits and nutritional products. Food Research International, 109, 175-186. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2018.04.023.##FAO. (2023). FAOSTAT. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy.##Ficiciyan, A. M., Loos, J., & Tscharntke, T. (2021). Similar yield benefits of hybrid, conventional, and organic tomato and sweet pepper varieties under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 5, 628537. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2021.628537.##Fikere, M., Tadesse, T., & Letta, T. (2008). Genotype-environment interactions and stability parameters for grain yield of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) genotypes grown in south eastern Ethiopia. International Journal of Sustainable Crop Production, 3(6), 80-87.##Gooding, M. J. (2009). The Wheat Crop. In: Khan, K., & Shewry, P. R. (Eds.). Wheat. Fourth edition. AACC International Press. pp. 19-49. doi: 10.1016/B978-1-891127-55-7.50009-4.##Gupta, S. K., Nepolean, T., Shaikh, C. G., Rai, K., Hash, C. T., Das, R. R., & Rathore, A. (2018). Phenotypic and molecular diversity-based prediction of heterosis in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L. (R.) Br.). The Crop Journal, 6(3), 271-281. doi: 10.1016/j.cj.2017.09.008.##Jiang, L., Rong, M., Wang, M., Chen, D., & Yu, H. (2022). Combining ability analysis of relevant characters of maize inbred lines suitable for machine harvest. Computational Intelligence & Neuroscience, 2022. doi: 10.1155/2022/2480801.##Srivastava, R. K., Bollam, S., Pujarula, V., Pusuluri, M., Singh, R. B., Potupureddi, G., & Gupta, R. (2020). Exploitation of heterosis in pearl millet: A review. Plants, 9(7), 807. doi: 10.3390/plants9070807.##Kang, M. S. (1997). Using genotype-by-environment interaction for crop cultivar development. Advances in Agronomy, 62, 199-252. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2113(08)60569-6.##Kang, M. S., Aggarwal, V. D., & Chirwa, R. M. (2006). Adaptability and stability of bean cultivars as determined via yield-stability statistic and GGE biplot analysis. Journal of Crop Improvement, 15(1), 97-120. doi: 10.1300/J411v15n01_08.##Khandelwal, V., Patel, R., Choudhary, K. B., Pawar, S., Patel, M., Iyanar, K., Mungra, K. D., Kumar, S., & Satyavathi, C. T. (2024). Stability analysis and identification of superior hybrids in pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] using the multi trait stability index. Plants (Basel), 13(8), 1-22. doi: 10.3390/plants13081101.##Krishnan, R., & Meera, M. (2018). Pearl millet minerals: Effect of processing on bioaccessibility. Journal of Food Science & Technology, 55, 3362-3372. doi: 10.1007/s13197-018-3305-9.##Lakew, T., Tariku, S., Alem, T., & Bitew, M. (2014). Agronomic performances and stability analysis of upland rice genotypes in north west Ethiopia. International Journal of Scientific & Research Publications, 4(4), 1-9.##Lin, C. S., & Binns, M. R. (1988). A superiority measure of cultivar performance for cultivar× location data. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 68(1), 193-198. doi: 10.4141/cjps88-018.##Mikó, P., Löschenberger, F., Hiltbrunner, J., Aebi, R., Megyeri, M., Kovács, G., Molnár-Láng, M., Vida, G., & Rakszegi, M. (2014). Comparison of bread wheat varieties with different breeding origin under organic and low input management. Euphytica, 199(1-2), 69-80. doi: 10.1007/s10681-014-1171-8.##Muthamilarasan, M., Dhaka, A., Yadav, R., & Prasad, M. (2016). Exploration of millet models for developing nutrient rich graminaceous crops. Plant Science, 242, 89-97. doi: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2015.08.023.##Nambiar, V. S., Dhaduk, J., Sareen, N., Shahu, T., & Desai, R. (2011). Potential functional implications of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) in health and disease. Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science, 1(10), 62-67.##Patel, J. M., Patel, M. S., Patel, H. N., Soni, N. V., & Prajapati, N. N. (2019). Stability analysis in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.). International Journal of Chemical Studies, 7(4), 2371-2375.##Salama, H. S., Shaalan, A. M., & Nasser, M. E. (2020). Forage performance of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) in arid regions: Yield and quality assessment of new genotypes on different sowing dates. Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research, 80(4), 572-584. doi: 10.4067/S0718-58392020000400572.##Satyavathi, C. T., Ambawat, S., Khandelwal, V., & Srivastava, R. K. (2021). Pearl millet: A climate-resilient nutricereal for mitigating hidden hunger and provide nutritional security. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12, 659938. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.659938.##Shiri, M. (2013). Grain yield stability analysis of maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids under different drought stress conditions using GGE biplot analysis. Crop Breeding Journal, 3(2), 107-112. doi: 10.22092/cbj.2012.100456.##Sodhaparmar, M., Patel, M., Gami, R., Solanki, S., Prajapati, N., & Rl, V. (2023). Stability analysis in pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.]. Frontiers in Crop Improvement, 11(1), 21-26.##Temesgen, T., Keneni, G., Sefera, T., & Jarso, M. (2015). Yield stability and relationships among stability parameters in faba bean (Vicia faba L.) genotypes. The Crop Journal, 3(3), 258-268. doi: 10.1016/j.cj.2015.03.004.##Thanh, P., & Duong, P. (2021). Economic impacts of hybrid rice varieties in Vietnam: An instrumental analysis. Journal of Agricultural Science & Technology, 23(6), 1195-1211. dor: 20.1001.1.16807073.2021.23.6.3.6.##Vadez, V., Hash, T., Bidinger, F., & Kholova, J. (2012). Phenotyping pearl millet for adaptation to drought. Frontiers of Physiology, 3, 1-12. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2012.00386.##Yan, W. (2002). Singular-value partitioning in biplot analysis of multienvironment trial data. Agronomy Journal, 94(5), 990-996. doi: 10.2134/agronj2002.9900.##Yan, W., Du, M., Zhao, W., Li, F., Wang, X., Eneji, A. E., Yang, F., Huang, J., Meng, L., & Qi, H. (2019). Relationships between plant architecture traits and cotton yield within the plant height range of 80-120 cm desired for mechanical harvesting in the Yellow River Valley of China. Agronomy, 9(10), 587. doi: 10.3390/agronomy9100587.##Yan, W., Frégeau-Reid, J.  A., Pageau, D., Martin, R. A., Mitchell-Fetch, J. W., Etienne, M., Rawsell, J., Scott, P., Price, M., De Haan, B.,  Cummiskey, A., Lajeunesse, J., Durand, J., & Sparry, E. (2010). Identifying essential test locations for oat breeding in eastern Canada. Crop Science, 50(2), 504-515. doi: 10.2135/cropsci2009.03.0133.##Yan, W., & Hunt, L. (2001). Interpretation of genotype × environment interaction for winter wheat yield in Ontario. Crop Science, 41(1), 19-25. doi: 10.2135/cropsci2001.41119x.##Yan, W., & Tinker, N. A. (2006). Biplot analysis of multi-environment trial data: Principles and applications. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 86(3), 623-645. doi:10.4141/P05-169.##Yang, M., He, J., Wan, S., Li, W., Chen, W., Wang, Y., Jiang, X., Cheng, P., Chu, P., Shen, W., & Guan, R. (2021). Fine mapping of the BnaC04.BIL1 gene controlling plant height in Brassica napus L. BMC Plant Biology, 21(1), 359. doi: 10.1186/s12870-021-03137-9.##Zhang, P.-P., Song, H., Ke, X.-W., Jin, X.-J., Yin, L.-H., Liu, Y., Qu, Y., Su, W., Feng, N.-J., Zheng, D.-F., & Feng, B.-L. (2016). GGE biplot analysis of yield stability and test location representativeness in proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) genotypes. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 15(6), 1218-1227. doi: 10.1016/S2095-3119(15)61157-1.##
Cereal Research
Volume 15, Issue 4 - Serial Number 57
December 2025
Pages 383-394

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics