Exploitation of sunflower germplasm for developing new populations and hybrids

The genetic resources activities have been initiated at the Project Co-ordinating Unit, Bangalore through NBPGR to conserve and supply germplasm to the breeders in the country. Currently around 2000 accessions are conserved in the project. These include open pollinated populations, inbred lines, CMS lines, restorer lines, wild types/species and cytoplasm sources for male sterility. Characterization and evaluation of germplasm accessions has been done in a phased manner. Germplasm accessions of economic importance which can be used in breeding programmes are identified. Two catalogues incorporating characterization and evaluation data have been developed. Good number of populations/hybrids have been developed by different breeders in the country by using parental lines supplied from the unit. Out of these, at least 20–25 populations/hybrids are superior to already recommended hybrids. Present sunflower cultivars have a narrow genetic base. To overcome this, germplasm enhancement for broad genetic base has been initiated in two directions - i) Creation of gene pools using desirable germplasm of diverse geographic origin and ii) Utilization of selected wild species for germplasm introgression to generate wide variability.