Division of Plant Physiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012
* Present Address: Department of Botany Agricultural College, Bapatla, Guntur Distt (A.P.)
Relative photosynthetic contribution of different plant organs to the final grain yield in bajra (P. typhoides) were worked out by employing yield reduction and radio tracer techniques. About 60% of the final grain yield was built up due to the assimilatory activities of the ear (10%) and the leaves (50%) and 25% was contributed by the leaf sheaths and stem surface. Upper five leaves made larger contribution to the grain yield than the lower ones; flag leaf alone contributed (13%) as much as the total contribution of all the lower leaves below 5th leaf. The data suggest that the ear of bajra draws upon the photo-synthates from almost every photosynthesising plant organ during grain filling period.
