Male sterility in Ridge gourd: A new paradigm for crop improvement

Male sterility is a situation where plants fail to produce functional anthers, pollen or male gametes. It has been reported in fairly large number of crops including vegetables. This phenomenon has always been of long term interest for the researchers of various disciplines of applied, strategic and basic sciences. If heterosis breeding is combined with some pollination control mechanism such as male sterility, it will certainly economize commercial hybrid seed production. In this work, suitability of male sterility for crop improvement in ridge gourd is studied. Male sterile mutants of ridge gourd were maintained using tissue culture technique. Phenotype of male sterile mutant is explained in detail. Pollen parents for the study were selected using variability analysis. Mechanism of male sterility and fertility restoration has been traced out in this study. The work is well supported by systematic review of previous researches. This is the first report of the fertility restorer line in ridge gourd. This book will be useful for students, researchers, breeders to get detailed information on male sterility, especially in ridge gourd.

Senior Research Fellow, doing Ph. D. at KRC College of Horticulture, Arabhavi. Awardee of Government of India's INSPIRE (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research) Fellowship. Have good research experience and publications. Worked as Plant Breeder (Tomato) and handled projects on tomato crop improvement for TyLCV resistance.