Five cultivars namely Ganesh, G-137, Kandhari Kabuli, Bhagwa and Mridula and two wild pomegranate (Daru) germplasm accessions namely NT-1 and MH-1 were used for pollen and hybridization studies. Pollen viability was assessed by acetocarmine stain (2%), tetrazolium stain (1%) and erythrosin B stain (0.1%). The pollen viability in acetocarmine ranged from 86.38 to 97.81 per cent whereas in tetrazolium and erythrosin B from 88.27 to 95.13 and 83.34 to 92.15 per cent respectively. Maximum pollen germination was obtained in 10 per cent sucrose solution after 72 hours with 42.34 per cent germination and minimum (2.17%) in 20 per cent sucrose solution at 72 hours. Some pomegranate cultivars/wild germplasm accessions showed no germination after 24, 48 and 72 hours in different concentrations of sucrose. Amongst all the cross combinations attempted the highest (79.09%) fruit set was observed in Bhagwa x NT-1 and minimum in MH-1 x G-137 (57.76%). Fruit retention ranged from 10.34 to 30.09 per cent in all the cross combinations. Seed germination from hybrid seeds ranged from 0.00 to 19.43 per cent in all cross combinations.
Germplasm accessions, Punica granatum, hybridization, , pollen viability, in vitro germination
