Interspecific hybridization between Cajanus cajan and Cajanus cajanifolius

Interspecific hybridization between five Canajus cajan genotypes viz., ICPL 87, CORG 9302, CORG 5, TAT 93-47 and AS 46 and the wild species C. cajanifolius was attempted. Successful pod set was observed in direct crosses involvingC. cajan as ovule parent and C. cajanifolius as pollen parent while the reciprocal crosses failed to set pods. The only survivingF1 of ICPL 87 × C. cajanifolius was vigorous in growth and exhibited intermediate leaf and flower morphology with predominanceof C. cajanifolius plant type. Chromosome pairing was rather irregular in the F1 hybrid with loose pairing, univalents,quadrivalents and abnormalities like laggards, stickiness, bridges, precocious separation and non-synchronization of thegenomes. Pollen fertility of the hybrid was low and occurrence of triads was noticed. The partial homology coupled with seedset suggested the possibility of incorporating traits of economic importance such as pest resistance from C. cajanifolius intoC. cajan.