Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad 580005.
Ten crosses involving nondormant Spanish bunch cultivars of groundnut as female and dormant Virginia cultivars as male parents were assessed for seed dormancy on 10th day after harvest in F2 generation. The Virginia cultivars recorded less than 40% germination and clearlydiffered from Spanish bunch (> 500% germination). The germination of F2 plants showed continuous distribution from 0 to 1000%, indicating segregation for the character. Only 70% plants were erect, of which 380% were dormant. But the frequency distribution of erect plants among different germination categories revealed independent genetic control of dormancy and growth habit. Thus, it is possible to increase the frequency of erect bunch dormant plants either by increasing the population size or through backcrossing with the erect bunch parents.
Dormancy, growth habit, Spanish bunch, Virginia, groundnut
