G.S. Choudhari, P.B. Kale, A.R. Aher, V.P. Chimote Male sterility, crop, plants, molecular, key 110-117 Volume 2 (4) July 2026 Hybrid varieties, which combine two carefully chosen parents to capture the yield boost known as heterosis (hybrid vigor), are among the biggest success stories of modern agriculture. But producing hybrid seed is not easy. In crops such as rice, cotton, pigeonpea and castor, the female parent must be stopped from pollinating itself, otherwise the seed harvested is not hybrid.