Genetic improvement of pearl millet for the arid zone of northwestern India: lessons from two decades of collaborative ICRISAT-ICAR research

    Bidinger, F R and Yadav, O P and Weltzien, E (2009) Genetic improvement of pearl millet for the arid zone of northwestern India: lessons from two decades of collaborative ICRISAT-ICAR research. Experimental Agriculture, 45 (1). pp. 107-115.

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    Abstract

    The arid zone of northwestern India is a unique adaptation zone for crop plants because of its pervasive severe moisture stress and high temperatures. Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is a major cereal in this zone as it represents approximately 25% of the total acreage of the crop in the country. Pearl millet hybrid cultivars, which have gained widespread acceptance from farmers elsewhere in the country, have not been adopted in the arid zone. Farmers continue to sow their traditional landraces because the yield advantage of current hybrids is not expressed in this zone, and the risk of failure in poor years with the hybrids is unacceptably high. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research have been collaborating to understand the unique nature of pearl millet in the arid zone since the late 1980s. This collaboration has produced a better understanding of how arid zone farmers manage their germplasm, of the unique features of this invaluable resource and of a range of ways of using this germplasm to produce well-adapted new varieties and hybrids that will meet the requirements of the farmers of the arid zone. It has been shown that new cultivars for the arid zone need to be based on parental materials, including traditional landraces that are specifically adapted to the arid zone. This paper summarizes the main lessons of nearly 20 years of this collaborative research.

    Item Type: Article
    Divisions: UNSPECIFIED
    CRP: UNSPECIFIED
    Subjects: Mandate crops > Millets
    Depositing User: Library ICRISAT
    Date Deposited: 25 Aug 2011 11:27
    Last Modified: 14 Sep 2013 08:52
    URI: http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/396
    Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0014479708007059
    Projects: UNSPECIFIED
    Funders: UNSPECIFIED
    Acknowledgement: UNSPECIFIED
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