Murugesan, T and Kaliamoorthy, S and Choudhary, S and Vysyaraju, K and Gudela, D S and Anusha, A and Goud, K S and Loftus, S and Dippold, M A and Kanuri, S and Baddam, R and Baker, A and Ceasar, S A and Kholova, J (2025) Effects of phosphorus availabilities on growth and yield of foxtail millet: insights from high-throughput phenotyping platforms. Planta (TSI), 261. pp. 1-17. ISSN 0032-0935
![[img]](http://oar.icrisat.org/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png) |
PDF
- Published Version
Available under License ["licenses_description_cc_attribution" not defined]. Download (1MB) |
Abstract
Foxtail millet, renowned for its high nutrient content and drought resilience, faces limited breeding investment despite being cultivated in vulnerable agri-systems. Low phosphorus (P) levels affect approximately 50% of global agricultural soils, and particularly impact regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, the latter where foxtail millet is extensively grown. This study explores the effects of low P (< 5 ppm; Hedley Fractionation Method; Cross and Schlesinger 1995) on foxtail millet plant growth and yield-related traits, utilizing high-throughput platforms (HTP) with a selected subset of genotypes (n = 10) from the core collection of ICRISAT Genebank. Results uncover substantial variation in plant growth and agronomical traits at both treatment and genotype levels. Under low-P conditions, genotypic variation is noted, with a sixfold difference in tiller count, 2.4-fold in grain yield, 2.7-fold in 3D-leaf area, and 2.3-fold in root surface area. A significant relationship was found between grain yield under low-P and high-P conditions (R2 = 0.65; P < 0.01). This suggests that genetic yield potential (vigor) under high-P conditions strongly influences grain yield and tiller numbers under low-P conditions. Residual grain yield under low-P conditions, not explained by high-P conditions, had a strong positive association with tiller numbers (R2 = 0.70; P < 0.01) and showed a significant negative association with total P concentration (R2 = 0.54; P < 0.05). Conversely, under high-P conditions, grain yield (GY_LF) from Lysi-Field exhibited significant positive correlations with P use efficiency (PUE) (r = 0.94; P < 0.001) and total biomass (r = 0.84; P < 0.01). These findings underscore the critical role of P availability in influencing grain yield and related traits. Under low-P conditions, performance is primarily driven by growth potential, with tiller number serving as a reliable marker of this potential. The significant genotypic variation observed highlights the importance of selecting for growth-related traits in P-limited environments. In addition, P dilution, rather than total P concentration, appears to play a key role in determining yield under low P. Optimizing P management strategies and breeding for improved growth potential may significantly enhance crop performance in regions facing P limitation.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | Global Research Program - Accelerated Crop Improvement |
| CRP: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Foxtail millet, Grain P content, High-throughput phenotyping platforms, Nutrient deficiency, Phosphorus stress, Phosphorus use efficiency, Resource poor soil |
| Subjects: | Mandate crops > Millets > Foxtail Millet Others > Crop Yield Others > Genetics and Genomics Others > Plant Growth |
| Depositing User: | Mr Nagaraju T |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Jun 2025 05:52 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Jun 2025 05:52 |
| URI: | http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/13091 |
| Official URL: | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00425-0... |
| Projects: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Funders: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Acknowledgement: | The authors sincerely thank an anonymous reviewer for providing thorough and constructive feedback across multiple rounds of review, which greatly contributed to improving the clarity and overall quality of the manuscript. The authors also extend their gratitude to the ICRISAT Genebank for supplying the seed material of foxtail millet. Special acknowledgment is given to Ms. Karin Schmidt, the technical assistant at Göttingen University, for her valuable assistance in P-nutrient analysis. In addition, the authors appreciate the support received from the ICRISAT High Throughput Phenotyping platforms (HTP-LeasyScan and Lysi-Field) and the hydroponics facility. |
| Links: |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
Altmetric
Altmetric