ESTIMATION OF HETEROSIS FOR YIELD AND YIELD RELATED COMPONENTS USING DIVERSE TESTERS IN PEARL MILLET [PENNISETUM GLAUCUM (L.) R. BR.]

Experiment comprised of twenty six female type parents and seven restorer parents of pearl millet and their 182 hybrids was conducted at two locations viz., ICRISAT, Patancheru (Latitude 17.52° N; Longitude 78.26° E and Altitude 522 m) and research farm of Super seeds Pvt Ltd., Hisar (Latitude 29.15° N; Longitude 75.72° E and Altitude 215 m) during rainy 2018, for studying the extent of hybrid vigour in F1 for grain yield and its components. For days to 50% owering, top cross hybrid MBL-5 X MOPT-31 (-13.37**) showed highest signicant and positive heterosis over check 86M86. The top cross hybrid MBL-17 X MOPT-33 (45.21**) highest, signicant standard heterosis in positive direction over check 86M86 for panicle length (cm). The single cross hybrid MBL-3 X MIT-29 (14.12*) exhibited signicant and positive standard heterosis over 86M86 for panicle girth (cm). for productive tillers, single cross hybrid MBL-8 X MIT-28 (98.34**) showed highest signicant positive standard heterosis over check 86M86 and the single cross hybrid MBL-24 X MIT-28 (18.42) showed positive standard heterosis over check 86M86