ICH-66, a new high yielding and biotic stress-resistant castor hybrid suitable for rainfed conditions of Peninsular India

ICH-66, a new castor hybrid has been developed at ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research (ICAR-IIOR),Hyderabad, India and identified by Combined Varietal Identification Committee of Oilseed Crops during 2018 forrelease under rainfed areas of Peninsular India in kharif season. The hybrid was developed using the parents SKP-84 and ICS-164 and tested at station trials ofICAR-IIOR during 2013-14 and 2014-15. Considering its superiority over checks, it was evaluated in MLTs of AICRP (Castor) during 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 along with hybrid checks DCH-519 and DCH-177. ICH-66 recorded a mean seed yield of 1566 kg/ha which is 14.9 and 18.3 per cent higher than the checks DCH-519 (1324 kg/ha) and DCH-177 (1363 kg/ha) respectively. It also had a mean oil content of 48.6 per cent, which is 2.2 and 3.4 per cent higher than the check DCH-177 (47.0% oil content) and DCH-519 (47.6% oil content), respectively. The hybrid had a longer effective primary spike length (45 cm) and better 100-seed weight (29.0 g) under rainfed conditions compared with checks DCH-177 (39 cm and 27.3 g) and DCH-519 (44.8 cm and 26.4 g). The hybrid is medium in maturity duration (100-130 days for primary spike maturity), non-lodging and non-shattering type. The hybrid showed resistance against Fusarium wilt andMacrophomina root rot. It was also found resistant to leafhopper with hopper burn grade of 0 to 1 (on 0-4 scale) at multilocations in all the years of screening. Owing to its superiority for seed yield, oil content and biotic-stressresistance, it will be suitable for rainfed areas of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odishastates in India.