Research Journal of Agricultural Sciences
An International Journal
The papaya (Carica papaya L.) cv. Arka Prabhath is an advanced generation gynodioecious cultivar developed at ICAR-IIHR-Bengaluru. The seeds of Arka Prabhath hybrid were treated with various doses (T3-50Gy, T4-100Gy, T5-150Gy, T6- 250Gy and T7-500Gy) of Gamma radiation to study its influence on morphological parameters of papaya along with T1-control (non-mutagenized Arka Prabhath) and T2-Red Lady among the M1 population. Mutation was induced to create variability for morphological, and other desirable traits. Height to first flowering was recorded lowest in T5 (26cm). Canopy spread (East –West direction) and canopy spread (North –South direction) were higher in treatments T3 and T6 (231cm). The maximum intermodal length was recorded in both T5-150Gy and T6-250Gy (8.9 cm). Significantly more number of leaves at first flowering was recorded in both T4-100Gy and T5-150Gy (28 leaves). Variations were observed in leaf type with coloration and leaf shape in mutant population. Extent of branching was observed among mutant populations which ranged from 2-5 branches per plant. The data on PRSV scoring showed that the most mutant progenies during M1 generation have not shown any tolerance or resistance towards PRSV. Even though there were no symptoms after 6 months of planting. For most of the mutant progenies disease score was ranged from 3-5 indicating susceptibility for PRSV. There is a chance of getting resistant or tolerant mutants to PRSV. Studies revealed that significant variation was observed for morphological and yield parameters studied among the mutant progenies. Plants with desirable traits were selfed, sib-mated and were forwarded to next generation for breeding purpose.
Research Article | Published online : 11-Aug-2022