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Genetic Resources of Pearl Millet: Status and Utilization

OAR@ICRISAT

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/9992/
http://doi.org/10.5958/0976-1926.2017.00004.3
10.5958/0976-1926.2017.00004.3
 
Title Genetic Resources of Pearl Millet: Status and Utilization
 
Creator Yadav, O P
Upadhyaya, H D
Reddy, K N
Jukanti, A K
Pandey, S
Tyagi, R K
 
Subject Pearl Millet
Genetics and Genomics
Germplasm Collection
 
Description Pearl millet is a very important crop of arid and semi-arid regions in Asia and Africa where it is the basis of
food security of millions of people inhabiting in harsh and environmentally fragile ecosystem. Genetic resources
of pearl millet including landraces, improved elite material, traditional cultivars, genetic stocks and wild relatives
are very rich and, therefore, their characterization, documentation, conservation and distribution is very essential
to ensure utilization in breeding programmes. This review assesses the status of pearl millet genetic resources,
and identifi es the gaps in their collection, conservation and utilization. A total of 56,580 accessions (including
possible duplicates) of pearl millet in 70 genebanks of 46 countries across world are available. Landraces represent
the largest part of pearl millet germplasm, followed by breeding/research material and wild relatives. The Indian
national collection includes 7,059 accessions at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New
Delhi. Global collections managed by ICRISAT comprise of 22,888 pearl millet accessions from 51 countries.
However, only a very small fraction of these accessions has been utilized so far. Critical assessment of collection
for geographical and trait-diversity gaps using various GIS tools revealed several gaps in germplasm collection from
Asian and African continents. Almost all cultivated accessions have been characterized for 23 morpho-agronomic
characters following prescribed pearl millet descriptors. A large variation exists for phenotypic and phenological
traits among available germplasm. In general, Indian pearl millet landraces have mainly contributed for earliness,
high tillering, high harvest index and local adaptation; whereas African material has been a good source of
bigger panicles, large seed size, and disease resistance. Systematic evaluation and screening of germplasm has
led to the identifi cation of specifi c sources of better grain quality, resistance to diseases and tolerance to abiotic
stresses like drought and heat. These germplasm sources continue to play a critical role in crop improvement
programmes across the world. Formation of trait-specifi c gene pools, core and minicore collections are likely to
enhance the utilization of genetic resources to a greater degree. Strategies for further enriching the germplasm
and increasing its use are discussed.
 
Publisher Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding
 
Date 2017
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/9992/1/ijpgr-30-1-006.pdf
Yadav, O P and Upadhyaya, H D and Reddy, K N and Jukanti, A K and Pandey, S and Tyagi, R K (2017) Genetic Resources of Pearl Millet: Status and Utilization. Indian Journal of Plant Genetic Resources, 30 (1). pp. 31-47. ISSN 0976-1926