Crop Improvement in Musa - Evaluation of Germplasm for Male and Female Fertility

Abstract

A total of 450 accessions of Musa (bananas and plantains) at National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirapalli,
(NRCB) field genebank were screened for their male and female fertility. Male fertility was screened with respect
to pollen production, pollen fertility and pollen germination. Apart from AA members, ABB genomes namely Pisang
Awak, Monthan and Bluggoc were found to be better pollen parents, with the exception of Peyan subgroup. Screening
for female fertility revealed that subgroups Mysore and Pome (AAB) and Pisang Awak and Bluggoe (ABB) were
potential female parents of use in Musa improvement programme. Though seed characters varied greatly with respect
to pollen and female parent combinations, variability was noticed with respect to number of seeds/fruit, seed
distribution, colour, shape and weight.