Breeding system study in sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) A stepping stone in crop improvement

Sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) belonging to the family Fabaceae is having wide range of industrial utilization as fibre crop, fodder crop and green manure. Pollination is the key mutualism between two kingdoms of organisms. The ambiguity of whether sunnhemp is self-pollinated or cross-pollinated crop paved the way for our study. The simplest and most efficient approach to investigate the breeding system of C. juncea would be the combination of controlled hand pollination followed by pod set analysis. Floral biology study revealed the protandrous characteristics of sunnhemp flowers. Flowers are zygomorphic and complete with dimorphic anthers. Breeding system study confirmed the prevalence of cross pollination in sunnhemp by higher per cent pod set in crosspollination in comparison with self-pollination.