Evaluation of Onion Breeding Lines for Table Purpose

Onion Breeding Lines for Table Purpose

Abstract

Onion is a biennial crop and takes almost 12 years to develop a new variety particularly for rabi season. It is mainly a rabi season crop, but it can be cultivated in kharif and late kharif season also. Programme for the development of varieties were strengthened in our country under coordinated project through SAUs and ICAR institutes, as a result of which about 70 varieties of onion have been developed and released for different locations and seasons at state or national level. ICAR-DOGR has released seven red onion varieties viz.; Bhima Super, Bhima Red, Bhima Raj, Bhima Dark Red, Bhima Kiran, Bhima Shakti and Bhima Light Red; and three white onion varieties viz.; Bhima Shweta, Bhima Shubhra and Bhima Safed through AINRPOG and recommended at national level. However, there is always scope to develop onion varieties with traits like wider adaptability, earliness, bolting-free, uniformity in bulbs with improved yield and quality. For development of stable variety for table purpose, 68 breeding lines were developed through mass selection from the selected bulbs. All the lines along with checks were evaluated at ICAR-DOGR, Rajgurunagar, Pune (MS). Out of 68 breeding lines, seven lines viz., DOGR-546-DR, KH-M-1, KH-M-2, KH-M-3, KH-M-4, RGP-1 and RGP-2 have been entered in AINRPOG on the basis of their superiority over the best check. DOGR-546-DR (373.40 q/ha) showed 18.3% marketable yield superiority over the best check. It has very good bulb storability, 64.7 g average bulb weight, free from bolters and suitable for rabi season. KH-M-1 (353.30 q/ha) and KH-M-2 (359.85 q/ha) were suitable for kharif season and showed 23.4% and 25.7% marketable yield superiority over the best check, respectively. These lines have dark red bulbs and early in maturity. RGP-1 (328.60 q/ha) and RGP-2 (369.15 q/ha) were suitable for rabi season and showed 17.5% and 32.0% marketable yield superiority over the best check. Two lines namely KH-M-1 and KH-M-2 were found best in respect of earliness, stability and quality yield during kharif.