Differential Response of Cultivars to Chemical Mutagen EMS Treatment for Increasing Shelling Percentage in Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

The expediency of a mutagen depends on its ability to induce high frequency of desirable mutants. Therefore it necessitates assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of mutagens for appropriate use in developing desirable mutants. Hence, a comparative study on the response of two groundnut cultivars R2001-2 (Vijetha) and R-2001-3(Ajeya) to three doses of Ethyl Methane Sulphonate (EMS) mutagen was made at Main Agricultural Research Station, UAS, Dharwad during 2014–15 rainy and post rainy seasons. In M₁ generation, the germination percentage, seedling emergence, number of fully opened leaflets, leaf length and leaf width reduced greatly thus confirming the effect of mutagen. The reduction in germination and seedling growth was higher in both R-2001-2 and R-2001-3 at 0.6%. In the mutants were identified that recorded M₂, increased shelling percentage with good pod and kernel features. The mutagenic effectiveness to induce increased shelling percentage and efficiency varied with EMS concentration in both the cultivars. Mutagenic effectiveness was higher at 0.5% EMS in R-2001-2 and at 0.4% EMS in R-2001-3 indicating differential response of the two cultivars used for induced mutagenesis in this study.