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Composition and Forage Yield of Hybrid-Inbred Mixtures of Pearl Millet

USDA-ARS, Univ. of Georgia, College of Agric. Exp. Stn., Coastal Plain Exp. Stn., Dep. of Agronomy, Tifton, GA 31793

^* Corresponding author.

In repeated tests, ‘Gahi-1’ pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] seed containing 75% of F₁ hybrid and 25% of selfed and sibbed seed yielded as much forage as double-cross (100% F₁) seed involving the same four inbreds. Even mechanical mixtures containing 50% of hybrid and 50% of inbred seed failed to significantly reduce pure hybrid forage yields. It was assumed that this happened because the more vigorous hybrids crowded out the inbreds in the seedling stage leaving only hybrid plants to be harvested. The objectives of this study were to test this hypothesis by determining the fate of colored inbreds in mixtures containing various percentages of their seeds mixed with seeds of the green hybrid ‘Gahi-3’, and to measure their effect on forage yield. Red and yellow plant inbreds yielding about 40% as much as Gahi-3 were used in this study. for 2 yr, mixtures containing 20, 40, 60, and 80% of seeds of colored inbreds planted in hills (30 seeds/hill) yielded 101.7, 91.4,84.7, and 71.5% as much forage as pure hybrid seed. Only the 60 and 80% of colored inbred seed mixtures yielded significantly less (P < 0.05). Colored culms left per hill were 3.2, 4.6, 8.0 and 15.7, respectively. Planted in rows (210 seeds/in) for 3 yr, mixtures containing 20, 40, and 60% of colored inbred seeds yielded 104.0, 90.9, and 90.5% as much as pure hybrid seed. Colored culms in the row plots produced 1.5, 4.7, and 9.7% of the total forage, respectively. Reducing the seeding rate in row plots to 70 seeds/m of row lowered forage yields 14%, but only the 60% colored inbred seed mixture significantly lowered forage yields (P < 0.01).

Received for publication April 25, 1988.