Para rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), a native of the Amazon forests of South America, is the chief source of natural rubber in the world. With the objective of broadening the original gene pool collected by Sir Henry Wickham in 1876, the International Rubber Research and Development Board (IRRDB) made a large collection of wild germplasm from Acre, Rondonia and Mato Grosso states of Brazil in 1981, which was distributed to various member countries including India for conservation and evaluation. In the present study, variability was assessed in a set of 195 Hevea accessions belonging to the wild gene pool in India, using 22 characterization descriptors and eight quantitative growth characters in the juvenile stage. The Shannon-Weaver diversity indices worked out for each of the 22 qualitative traits indicated a high level of diversity in the collection. The range of variation for quantitative traits viz., plant height (0.43 to 3.16 m), basal diameter (0.81 to 2.52 cm), number of whorls (1.23 to 5.48), inter-node length (4.11 to 45.26 cm), number of leaves (11.44 to 91.26), single leaf area (80.22 to 223.57 cm2), total leaf area (2356.00 to 14660.50 cm2) and leaf area index (0.24 to 1.47), also represented wide variability in the collection. The accessions were ranked for overall performance and top 10% were selected for early growth vigour. The high level of variability observed in this germplasm indicates its potential use in crop improvement programmes and for broadening the genetic base of Hevea.

Introgressive hybridization was initiated using different Hevea spp. and wild germplasm accessions. High yielding H. brasiliensis clones but susceptible to foliar diseases (RRII 105, RRII 414 and RRII 430) were hybridized with other Hevea spp. (H. spruceana and H. camargoana) and wild accessions (RO 380 and RO 2871) which are putatively tolerant to important foliar diseases. In addition, half-sibs were collected from a disease tolerant interspecific hybrid clone, Fx 516. The F1 hybrids and half-sibs were evaluated for growth and yield at the age of three years. Regarding family-wise growth in terms of girth, RRII 430 x RO 380 (mean, 28.6 cm) and RRII 430 x Hevea spruceana (mean, 23.0 cm) had more girth. In contrast, RRII 105 x H. camargoana and RRII 430 x H. spruceana had progenies with low girth. With reference to family mean yields, RRII 414 x RO 380 gave a mean yield of 64.8 g/t/10t followed by RRII 430 x RO 380 (mean yield, 15.3 g/t/10t) and RRII 430 x H. camargoana (mean yield, 15.2 g/t/10t). Remaining cross-combinations produced progenies with low yield ranging from 7.1-8.5 g/t/10t. The highest yielding individual of the family RRII 414 x RO 380 gave a yield of 190.8 g/t/10t. Half-sibs of Fx 516 had a mean yield of 17 g/t/10t with maximum individual yield of 56 g/t/10t. Progenies were variably affected by powdery mildew disease caused by Oidium. After confirming segregation of disease resistance trait among progenies through detailed field evaluation in hot spots, the F1 population will be continuously used in back crossing programme to ensure introgression of disease resistance traits.

Background: Perinatal deaths are still a significant problem in India. Therefore, there is a need for effective fetal surveillance, in order to improve the outcomes of pregnancy. Methods: This was a prospective study including fifty one females with high-risk pregnancy and 50 with low risk pregnancy. The included participants were subjected to NST done using a cardiotocograph with ultrasound transducer placed on maternal abdomen for duration of 20 min. The NST results were classified into reactive and non-reactive. Subjects were then followed up for mode of delivery and different variables of perinatal outcome. Results: Majority of study subjects were in the age group of 26-30 years (n=74; 73.3%). The period of gestation in 74 (73.3%) subjects was 37-38 weeks. Gestational diabetes mellitus was the most common risk factor in the high-risk group (n=22; 43.1%).The NST was non-reactive in 6 and 4 subjects in the high-risk and low-risk groups respectively (p=0.741). Only 3 subjects in the high-risk group had a vaginal delivery, while 33 in low-risk group did. Conclusions: We did not find any significant difference in the results of the NST between women with high and lowrisk pregnancy. But this test is a promising basic screening tool in pregnancy to assess fetal well-being.