TilhanTec-SUNH-1 (IIOSH-15-20): A new high seed and oil yielding and downy mildew resistant sunflower hybrid suitable for rainfed condition of India

Aim: To develop more heterotic hybrids for seed and oil yield coupled with resistant or tolerant to major disease (downy mildew) and insect pests (leafhoppers) for commercial cultivation in rainfed conditions and DNA profiling of the newly developed hybrid (TilhanTec-SUNH-1) along with 2 female lines, 4 male lines and 3 hybrids using sunflower specific simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Methodology: Two parentages (ARM-243A and RGP-100) were utilized for the development of a new promising sunflower hybrid, TilhanTec-SUNH-1 (IIOSH-15-20). Performance of entry was assessed at 29 and 14 locations, respectively, during the kharif and rabi seasons over three years through All India Coordinated Trials (IHT, AHT-I & II) and a state multilocation trial at three locations. A total of nine quantitative observations were recorded. A total of 80 SSR primers were used on the 4 hybrids for DNA fingerprinting. Results: Considerable seed yield superiority (28.7% and 10.5%) was observed in AICRP trials over DRSH-1 and KBSH-44, respectively. Oil yield superiority was 27.1% and 27.3% compared to national checks DRSH-1 and KBSH-44. TilhanTec-SUNH-1 was found resistant (0%) to downy mildew and leafhoppers (1.1 grade) while tolerant to Alternariaster leaf spot. Four SSR markers, viz., ORS-57, ORS-203, ORS-1028 and ORS-598 can be confidently used for the identification of TilhanTec-SUNH-1 as well as for genetic purity tests. Interpretation: The results of this investigation revealed that TilhanTec-SUNH-1 is superior in terms of seed and oil yield and resistance to downy mildew and moderately resistant to leafhoppers and tolerant to Alternariaster leaf spot. It is notified and released by CVRC for commercial cultivation in rainfed conditions of the sunflower growing states of India. Key words: Downy mildew, Heterosis breeding, Molecular markers, Oil yield, Seed yield