|
Induction of earliness and grain color mutation in
wheat variety Nadadores H. K. JAIN, R. N. SAWHNEY, D. SINGH and B. C. JOSHI Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India Nadadores, a hexaploid wheat variety, introduced in India from Mexico, has outyielded all other Indian and Mexican wheat varieties in yield trials conducted in the districts of Kinnaur and Pangi of Himachal Pradesh, at an altitude of about 2420 metres above the sea level, during 1966-68. This two gene dwarf wheat possesses all the desirable attributes of a variety suited to the higher hills, except the red color of its grain, which is disliked by the consumers. Seeds of Nadadores were irradiated with gamma rays, and in the M1 generation an earhead showed amber colored seeds in the material, which was treated with 30 kilo rads of gamma rays. In the M2 generation, the progeny of this earhead bred true and the plants resembled parental Nadadores in all their morphological characters, except for the amber color of the grains and early maturity of plants by about 30 days (Fig. 1). Nadadores could not be grown in the plains of India due to its late maturity. The isolation of an amber grained mutant with early maturity could enlarge its area of cultivation from the hills to the plains of India. The seeds of this mutant are being multiplied for large scale trials. (Received February 9, 1970) |