PLANT BREEDING

1. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum ) (2n=24)
Tomato is one of the most important vegetable crops grow n throughout the world.
Origin: Peru and Mexico
Distribution: Europe, USA, India, Japan and China. In India it is grown in all the states
Other species: L. pimpinellifolium - Fusarium wilt, early blight resistant
L. peruvianum - Leaf curl virus resistant
L. cheesmanii - Salt resistant
L. hirsutum - Fruit borer resistant
L. pennellii - Drought tolerant
Breeding objectives
1. Breeding for earliness
2. Breeding for increased fruit yield
3. Fruit quality like large round, uniform size, deep red colour and increased shelf life etc.
4. Breeding for disease resistance like (Fusarium wilt, late blight anthracnose,
bacterial wilt).
5. Breeding for insect resistance (fruit borer, whitefly etc).
6. Breeding for Abiotic Stresses (cold tolerant, drought tolerant, salt tolerant, low
temperature tolerant, herbicide tolerant.
7. To breed varieties for prolonged storage and transportation e. g, flavr Savr
8. To breed varieties suitable for processing
Breeding procedures:
1. Introduction: Seeds of improved varieties are introduced from one ecological area to
another and evaluated. E.g.,“Marglobe”.
2. Pureline selection: Arka vikas, Arka saurab.
3. Back cross method: is commonly utilized in wide crosses or in interspecific gene
transfer for resistant to diseases.
4. Pedigree method: has the most common method in tomato. In this method single
plant selection is initiated in F2 and is continued through successive generations till
pure lines are obtained (up to F6 generations)
5. Single seed decentmethod
6. Heterosis breeding
7. Mutation breeding

2. 8. Biotechnological methods: Breeding for resistance to abiotic stress tomato is
sensitive to low and high temp from the stage of germination to ripening. E.g.,
Transgenic variety “Flavr Savr” was developed for long shelf life and transportation.
Practical Achievement
Varieties, Sioux, Marglobe, Pusa Ruby, Pusa early dwarf, Fire ball, Best of all Arka
vikas, Arka saurab.
Chilli (Capsicum annuum) (2n=24)
Chillies are also called as pungent pepper grown all over the world except in colder
climates. Bell peppers are constituents of many foods, add flavour, colour, vitamin C and
pungency.
Origin: Tropical America
Distribution: Mainly cultivated in Brazil, Mexico, Spain South and Central America
China and India. In India, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and H.P
etc.
Five major cultivated species in the Genus Capsicum
1. Capsicum annuum
2. C. frutescens
3. C. chinense
4. C. pendulum
5. C. pubescens.
Classification of chilli type based on fruit characters
1. C. annuum var acuminatum (Nepal pepper): Fruits long thin, pendulous and pungent
2. C. annum var longum: Long chilli the fruit are long and stout with a very broad base
3. C. annuum var grossum: Big chilli sweet pepper, bell pepper, fruits large and bell
shaped turn, bright red on ripening, little pungent, used as vegetable
4. C. annuum var ceraciferma: very small chilli fruits, and round, slightly pungent.
5. C. fruitiscens var minima: Bird pepper with white and long pedicel, fruits small and
highly pungent e.g., Golconda Mirapa, Seema mirapa
Breeding objectives:
1. Earliness
2. Desirable fruit shape and size (obovate and round fruit in bell pepper and long fruits
in chilli)
3. Superior fruit quality (pleasing flavour, high sugar / acid ratio, high pigment content

3. and vitamin C in bell pepper and high capsaicin.
4. Resistance is to diseases (fruit rot, Cercospora leaf spot, powdery mildew, bacterial leaf
spot, phytophthra root rot, root knot, common TMV
5. Resistance to insects (thrips, mite, aphid, fruit
borer)
6. Resistance or tolerance to abiotic stress (heat, water stress, salinity etc).
Breeding methods:
1. Pure line selection: This method is applicable to land races or local cultivars being
grown by farmers. e.g., G1, K1, Co1, Sindhu.
2. Pedigree method: involves selection of superior plants following hybridization between
superior cultivars. e.g., Andhra jyothi, Pusa jwala
3. Backcross method: Used to transfer single gene or few genes from primitive
cultivars or wild forms to leading cultivars.
4. Heterosis breeding: F1 hybrids are popular is USA and Europe and gaining
popularity in India after the initiation. The first hybrid in India was Bharat developed
by Indo American hybrid seed company, Banglore (1973) followed by several
companies
5. Mutation breeding: Found to be effective and efficient breeding tool in pepper.
B iotechnological methods
Brinjal / Egg Plant (Solanum melongena ) (2n=24)
Brinjal is an important commercial vegetable crop grown in India.
Origin: Indo-Burma
Distribution: India, Japan, Indonesia, China, Bulgaria , Italy, France, USA and African
countrie s. In India all the states grow brinjal
Wild species: Solanum torvum
S. nigrum
S. indicum
S. mamosum
B reeding objectives:
1. High yield
2. Earliness
3. Fruit shape, size and colour as per consumer’s preference
4. Low proportion of seed
5. Soft flesh

4. 6. Lower Olanine content
7. Upright study plant free from lodging.
8. Resistance to diseases like bacterial wilt, blights.
9. Resistance to insects like shoot and fruit borer, jassids etc.
Breeding methods
1. Introduction: This method may be useful in other countries but not to India.
2. Pure line selection: e.g., Pusa Purple long, Co.1
3. Pedigree selection: Many varieties have been developed through hybridization and
subsequent pedigree selection. e.g., Pusa Kranti
4. Heterosis breeding: Many F1 hybrids have been developed and released for
commercial cultivation. e.g., Arka Navneet
5. Hybridization for resistance breeding: Resistance is not available in the cultivated
varieties. Wild varieties like S. incanum, S. anthocarpum are reported to be resistant
and used in hybridization programme. However the inferior quality of the fruits of
wild species associated with resistance are often expressed in the hybrid progenies.
6. Backcrossing: is normally follow to transfer genes conferring resistance to disease
like bacterial wilt resistance which has been shown to be under a single dominant
gene.
7. Mutation Breeding:
8. Biotechnological Methods: e.g.. Bt. Brinjal
Varieties: Pusa purple long
Pusa kranti
Arka navneet
OKRA Lady’s finger (Abelmoschus esculentus) (2n=130)
O kra is a common vegetable crop grown in warmer climate,
Origin: India
Distribution: Asia, Europe, Africa and United States and Brazil. In India it is grown in Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana and Punjab.
Species of Abelmeschus
Abelmoschus angulosus
A. crinitus
A. ficulneus
Breeding objectives:

5. 1. High pod yield
2. Dark green, tender, thin, medium long smooth with 4-5ridged pods
3. Pods free from conspicuous hairs
4. Early and prolonged harvest
5. Short plant with more number of nodes, short internodes
6. Optimum seed setting ability
7. Pods suitable for processing industry and export market.
8. Resistance to diseases (yellow vein mosaic virus, (YVMV) Fusarium wilt)
9. Resistance to insects (fruit and shoot borer, jassids and white fly)
10. Tolerance to Abiotic stresses.
Breeding methods
1. Introduction: A cultivar from Africa (Ghana) known as A. manihot sp. manihot
introduced into India has been successfully used as a source of resistance to YVMV.
2. Pure line selection
3. Pedigree Method
4. Mutation Breeding
5. Heterosis breeding
Varieties: Pusa makhmali, Pusa swani, Co-1etc.