Explain the steps involved in artificial hybridization.

Explanation

The steps involved in artificial hybridization are :
(1) Emasculation: The process of removing anthers from the flower bud before they dehices using a pair of forceps.
(2) Bagging: Emasculated flower is immediately bagged to avoid pollination by any foreign pollen grains. These bags are made up of butter paper, fine cloth or polythene depending on the inflorescence.
(3) Tagging: The emasculated and bagged flowers are tagged bearing the date of emasculation, date of pollination and name of cross with the name of female parent.
(4) Pollination : Mature and fertile pollen grains are collected from male parent, bag is opened and pollen grains are dusted on receptive stigma with the help of brush.
(5) Rebagging: After pollination, the flowers are rebagged till the fruits begin to ripen.