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Powdery mildew is caused by an obligate parasite Erysiphe pisi and considered as one of the most important constraints causing yield reductions in pea. Development and utilization of genetic resistance is acknowledged as the most effective, economic and environmental friendly method of control. Therefore, development of cultivars with improved resistance to biotic stresses is a primary goal of plant breeding programs throughout the world. Three monogenic sources er1, er2 and Er3 have been described to govern the powdery mildew disease resistance. Several markers have been reported linked to resistant genes at varying distances in different mapping populations. Genetic markers linked to the disease resistance gene make the breeding process more efficient for the use of Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) strategy to aid in obtaining a complete powdery mildew resistance in pea.

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The present study was conducted at College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Meghalaya, India in the rabi season (November–April) of 2020–21 to study genetic variability, character association and identify high yielding Al tolerant lentil RILs genotypes suitable for Al toxicity prone acidic soils of Meghalaya. The genotypes were screened through phenotypic evaluation in the field, character association, root morphology studies and determination of root Al content. The pooled variance analysis over two locations revealed highly significant genotype×location interaction for the traits under study except days to maturity, number of primary branches plant-1 and number of seeds pod-1, whereas variance due to genotypes was highly significant for all the 10 characters except number of seeds pod-1. Among all the characters, high Hbs2 coupled with high GA percentage were observed in number of primary branches plant-1, plant height and 100 seed weight. Highly positive and highly significant correlation was observed between seed yield plant-1 with number of pods plant-1 (0.84***), biological yield plant-1 (0.79***), number of seeds pod-1 (0.47***), number of primary branches plant-1 (0.31***) and harvest index (0.31***). From the root morphology analysis, it was observed that high yielding tolerant genotypes constituted of well-established root systems under acidic soil conditions. Based on mean performance of seed yield plant-1, various attributing traits and root morphology studies the best performing genotypes were LRIL-37, LRIL-22, LRIL-96, LRIL-97, LRIL-144, LRIL-92 and LRIL-109. The identified genotypes may be used for further evaluation in multiple environments for final release and also for use in the hybridisation programme.

Being an amazing picturesque of land, the North Eastern Hill Region of India, consisting of more than 200 ethnic groups, has only about 2.27% of the total rice area and shares only 1.96% of the total rice production in the country. Whether profitable or not, the rice cultivation is a way of life for the people of North Eastern Hill Region of India. Till today, the production and productivity of rice in this region is below the national average because of its fragile ecosystem and the varied physio-graphic conditions pertaining to this region. Neither the wider recommendation of agricultural technology such as variety nor the use of a single technology or variety can solve this problem of low yield. However, the development of location specific high yielding rice variety using the existing land races prevalent in the area can be one of the promising technique for improving the production and productivity of rice cultivation in this region.