Impact of hybridization and induced mutagenesis on variability of traits and resistance to fusarium wilt in Chickpea (Cicer arietmum L.)

A high yielding and a late wilter variety Bheema was crossed to ICCV-10, also a high yielder but highly-resistant to wilt. The two parents are known to differ in respect of a single gene governing resistance to wilt. The F₂ seeds of cross between Bheema and ICCV-10 were subjected to gamma irradiation. Simultaneously, F₂ was also advanced to F₃ generation. Besides, Bheema was also subjected to irradiation to look to the possibility of developing high yielding and disease resistant mutants. The F₂M₁ population proved to be highly potential in recovering higher frequency of high yielding and wilt resistant types than selfed (F₃) and mutant (M₂) populations.