Crop Improvement in Musa-Evaluation of Germplasm for Male and Female Fertility Uma S, Sathiamoorthy S, Singh HP2, Dayarani M1 1National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirapalli-620 017 (Tamil Nadu). 2Horticulture Commissioner, Krishi Shavan, New Delhi-ll0 011. Abstract A total of 450 accessions of Musa (bananas and plantains) at National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirapalli, (NRCB) field genebank were screened for their male and female fertility. Male fertility was screened with respect to pollen production, pollen fertility and pollen germination. Apart from AA members, ABB genomes namely Pisang Awak, Monthan and Bluggoc were found to be better pollen parents, with the exception of Peyan subgroup. Screening for female fertility revealed that subgroups Mysore and Pome (AAB) and Pisang Awak and Bluggoe (ABB) were potential female parents of use in Musa improvement programme. Though seed characters varied greatly with respect to pollen and female parent combinations, variability was noticed with respect to number of seeds/fruit, seed distribution, colour, shape and weight. Top Key Words Banana, Crop Improvement, Germplasm, Female Fertility, Fertility, Male Fertility, Musa, Seed Fertility. Top |