Background:
Till date there is no F1 hybrid in snowball cauliflower developed by Indian public sector. Most of the seeds of snowball cauliflowers are imported from different countries and sold in Indian market at a very high price (Rs. 40000-60000/kg). No Indigenous F1 hybrid is mainly attributed to the non-availability of suitable pollination control mechanism like cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) line. Technology Details:
Cauliflower is an important vegetable crop and more than 90% area is covered by F1 hybrids. Snowball cauliflowers are grown throughout the north Indian plain during Rabi season and almost throughout the year in hilly regions of India. In cauliflower, F1 hybrids are advantageous especially in uniform maturity, high early and total yield, better curd quality with respect to compactness and colour, resistance to insect pests, diseases and unfavorable weather conditions. Two pollination control mechanisms viz. self-incompatibility (SI) and male sterility (particularly CMS) are used widely for production of F1 hybrid seed However, the contribution of indigenous hybrids is negligible and bulk of the seeds is imported from outside. Development indigenous hybrid seed industry in vegetable crop like cauliflower is the need of the hour. It will not only save revenues spent in import of their seeds but will also create several employments in rural India. Development of indigenous pollination control mechanism like CMS holds the key for indigenous hybrid seed production. The snowball cauliflower CMS line, Ogu3A is one indigenously developed CMS line. It has refined Ogura male sterile cytoplasm which if free from any floral deformities. It has partially covered snow white-curd. This CMS line can be used widely in developing F1 hybrids in cauliflower. CMS system is highly preferred for hybrid seed production in cauliflower as there is no chance of sibs/off types unlike in case of self-incompatibility based F1 hybrids.