Vol. 11, Issue 6 (2022)

Author(s):
MK Meena, BB Dalei, K Pradhan, N Senapati, Amit Phonglosa, Manohar Ram, Ram Kunwar, Varsha Kumari, Deepak Gupta and RK Meena

Abstract:
Niger is minor oilseed crop and important for many nutritious purposes. Niger can be grown with minimum agro inputs, it is considered to be a crop for resources poor farmers particularly in developing countries like India. India is the chief producer of Niger seeds which ranks second and fourth position in the world for its average and annual production respectively. Mutation breeding is one of the important tools to create variability and is being widely used for the improvement of various plant characters in different groups of crops. It is an effective and powerful tool in the hands of breeders especially for crops with narrow genetic base. The present experiment comprising of four genotypes of Niger with five doses of γ rays viz., 12, 16, 20, 24and 28 Kr. Morpho-physiological data were taken and analysed. Evaluation was done from Kharif 2016 to Kharif 2018. Mutation dose of 16 and 20Kr was noticed to be suitable for Niger crop. The mutation dose of 24 and 28 Kr was noticed least seed yield (50 & 120 kg/ha in M1, 60 & 50 Kg/ha in M2) but in M3 generation after selection achieved a good seed yield i.e. 550 & 450 Kg/ha) while dose of 16 and 20Kr recorded maximum seed yield in all the three generations i.e. (620 and 750 kg/ha respectively in M1 generation. Various beneficial and effective mutants were also identified for different characters like early maturity, short stature, No. of branches per plant and Capitula per plant like N-244-M-11-1, N-244-M-18-2, ONS-171-M-08-01, ONS-171-M-02-02, ONS-150-M-13-01, GA-27-M-10-01, GA-27-M-03-02, ON-1-M-07-01, ON-1-M-06-02, ON-1-M-01-03.