UNIVERSITY OF HORTICULTURAL SCIENCES COLLEGE OF HORTICULTURE BAGALKOT Submitted by: Mr.Beerappa . M.J UHS11UG663

Breeding of onion

INTRODUCTION Onion is cool season vegetable The chromosome number of onion is 2n= 16 Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae class: Angiosperms subclass: Monocots Order: Asparagales Family: Alliaceae Subfamily: Allioideae Genus: Allium Species: A. cepa Binomial name Allium cepa L. Onion is cool season vegetable It is grown for its bulbs which are used as salad, cooked in various ways in all curries, fried, boiled, used in soup making in pickles and many other purpose In India, the most important onion growing states are MH, AP, TN, Bihar and punjab. It is a export oriented crop

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION The Russian scientist Vavilov reported central Asia is the primary center of origin. Western Asia and area around mediterranean sea are its secondary centers of origin Now it is distributed throughout the world.

AREA AND PRODUCTION About 25.40 million tonnes of onions of produced in the world from 1.79 million ha of land. India ranks first in area and second in production (2.45 million tonnes from 0.29 million ha). India has productivity about 8.54 tonnes/ha.

FLORAL BIOLOGY The flowering structure of onion is called umbel. Umbel is an aggregate of many small inflorescence of 5 to 10 flowers. The inflorescence may consists of a few to more than 2000 flowers for umbel Anthesis occurs in early morning (6-7 hrs). Anther dehiscence is between 7.00 and 17.00 hr and on next day also with peak between 9.30 and 17.00 hr. Pollen fertility is highest on the days of anthesis. Stigma receptivity is also high on the day of anthesis

Each individual flower is made up of 6 stamens, 3 carpels united with one pistil, and 6 perianth stamens. The pistil contains 3 locules each of which contains 2 ovules.

Floral Formula: Br ⊕ P3+3 A3+3 G(3)

MODE OF POLLINATION Onion is highly cross pollinated crop and pollinators are bees and other insects The reason for cross pollination is heteromorphism and male sterility.

OBJECTIVES OF BREEDING Varities with improved quality(good shape, colour) and high yield suited to different agro climatic conditions and better stability Varieties resistant to diseases like basal rot and phythium blight etc. Develop to short day, high yielding F1 hybrids With longer storage life. Development of white onion varieties suitable for dehydration and export.

BREEDING METHODS MASS SELECTION: Arka kalyan developed from MS from IIHR-45 (moderately resistant to purple blotch). Arka Niketan: developed from MS from IIHR-153(red colour excellent keeping quality) PEDIGREE METHOD: Arka Pintambar: Yellow onion. HETEROSIS: Arka kirthiman:(tolerant to purple blotch) INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDIZATION: A. cepa var. CepaX A. fastulosum –welsh onion popular in china and spain

Salient breeding achievements IARI: Pusa red, Pusa Madhushri, Pusa Ratnar, Pusa White Round. NHRDF: Agrifound Dark Red, Agrifound Light Red. TNAU: CO1 to CO4-All red PAU: S48,Punjab selection-Red MPKV:NS-4-1,Baswant 780-Red

Some important varieties in India and their characters 1.Pusa red IARI Newdelhi Red colored bulbs,good storage 2.Pusa ratnar Deep red,round,yield 30 to 40t/ha 3.Arka nikethan IIHR banglore Good for storage 4.Arka kalyan IIHR Banglore Moderately resistant to purple blotch 5.Arka bindu Suitable for export 6.Arka lalima IIHR Resistant to purple blotch 7. pusa white flat Suitablefor dehydration 8 .Punjab 48 PAU Ludhiana Suitable for dehydration 9.Early grano IARI Yellow onion Good for salad purpose 10.Agri found dark red NHRDF Suitable for kharif

Some varieties of onion

CONCLUSION Onion is a universal flavouring agent for different vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes all over the world. and also bulbs are rich in calcium and phosphorus. and reduces the cholesterol and lipoproteins associated with heart disease.

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