Mungbean sown at four sites in the Punjab on 12 and 24 July gave higher yields than earlier or especially later sowings. A seed rate of 17.5 kg/ha was recommended for July, but 20 kg/ha seed rate is advisable for later sowings.

No abstract

The inheritance of yellow berry, a grain disorder in durum and bread wheats, was studied in six intervarietal crosses in bread wheat. The trait was found to be controlled by either two or three dominant genes. Monosomic analysis using 'Chinese Spring' monosomic series showed the presence of two major dominant genes on chromosomes 1A and 7A, and four modifiers on 4A, 4B, 6A and 6D, which influence the expression of yellow berry in bread wheat.

The effectiveness of selection for the improvement of protein content under random intermating (recurrent selection) and selfing series (pedigree selection) was evaluated in a cross of winter and spring wheats, 'Atlas 66' × 'HD 1977'. Selection of 10 per cent high protein families resulted in an increase of 3.25 per cent and 4.30 per cent of the mean of checks through pedigree and recurrent selection, respectively. The mean protein differences in both methods were not significant. The increase in protein content was accompanied by a decrease in the grains per spike, grain yield and 1000-kernel weight, and the decline was relatively higher in recurrently selected than pedigreed population. Since the pedigree method is simple, less time consuming, economically cheaper, has favourable shifts in association and better correlated responses, it was decided to follow a few cycles of pedigree selection in early segregating generations, after which one or two cycles of recurrent selection in the elite lines could be introduced to increase genetic variation and concentrate favourable genes for grain yield.