Heterosis for yield and morpho-nutritional traits in pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (l.) R. Br.]

A line x tester analysis was carried out with four male sterile lines and twelve testers. These sixteen parents and forty eight crosses were used to estimate the heterosis for ten morpho-nutritional traits viz, plant height, number of effective tillers per plant, ear head length, ear head girth, number of grains per cm2, 1000-grain weight, fodder yield per plant, grain Fe content, grain Zn content and grain yield per plant. The study revealed that the hybrids DHLB-18A x K-13/1005, DHLB-17A x K-13/1005 and DHLB-18A x K-13/1017 were superior hybrids for exploitation of grain yield and other morpho-nutritional characters.