Studies on Screening of Onion (Allium cepa L.) Genotypes against Bolting Behaviour

In India, onion is grown during Kharif, late Kharif and Rabi season, though Rabi is the main crop. India is the second largest producer of onion in the world after China. The onion is grown as bulb crop, some inflorescence stalks are produced before formation of normal bulbs known as bolting, it is not a desirable because it stop the development of bulbs in bulbing crops. These bulbs become fibrous and light in weight. The study conducted at Nashik and Karnal during kharif, 2017, revealed that at Nashik, the highest gross yield (360.71 q/ha) and marketable yield (356.44 q/ha) were recorded in the check variety NHRDF Red-4 and found at par with all the advance lines except L-764, L-705, L-743, L-833 and L-872. Highest total soluble solids (12.07%) and dry matter (13.58%) were noted in check variety NHRDF Red-3, however at Karnal, the highest gross yield (198.36 q/ha) and marketable yield (183.44 q/ha) were recorded in advance line L-883 and found at par with advance lines L-863, L-882 and L-884 in respect of gross yield. Highest total soluble solids (15.01%) was recorded in the advance line L-881 and found at par with the advance lines L-653, L-682 and L-880. It is concluded from the study that the advance lines such as L-883 and NHRDF Red-4, which has highest yield can be utilized for higher yield. Regarding bolting behavior, no bolters were recorded in lines L-705, L-748, L-750, L-831, L-833, L-870, L-888, L-890, L-894 and check NHRDF Red-4, however, these lines can be utilized by onion breeder for developing good quality onion variety for different agroclimatic condition.