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Genetic Gains in Pearl Millet in India: Insights Into Historic Breeding Strategies and Future Perspective

OAR@ICRISAT

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/11773/
10.3389/fpls.2021.645038
 
Title Genetic Gains in Pearl Millet in India:
Insights Into Historic Breeding
Strategies and Future Perspective
 
Creator Yadav, O P
Gupta, S K
Govindaraj, M
Sharma, R
Varshney, R K
Srivastava, R K
Rathore, A
Mahala, R S
 
Subject Drought Tolerance
Plant Breeding
Pearl Millet
Biofortification
Plant Disease
 
Description Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum R. Br.) is an important staple and nutritious food crop
in the semiarid and arid ecologies of South Asia (SA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In
view of climate change, depleting water resources, and widespread malnutrition, there
is a need to accelerate the rate of genetic gains in pearl millet productivity. This review
discusses past strategies and future approaches to accelerate genetic gains to meet
future demand. Pearlmillet breeding in India has historically evolved very comprehensively
from open-pollinated varieties development to hybrid breeding. Availability of stable
cytoplasmic male sterility system with adequate restorers and strategic use of genetic
resources from India and SSA laid the strong foundation of hybrid breeding. Genetic
and cytoplasmic diversification of hybrid parental lines, periodic replacement of hybrids,
and breeding disease-resistant and stress-tolerant cultivars have been areas of very
high priority. As a result, an annual yield increase of 4% has been realized in the
last three decades. There is considerable scope to further accelerate the efforts on
hybrid breeding for drought-prone areas in SA and SSA. Heterotic grouping of hybrid
parental lines is essential to sustain long-term genetic gains. Time is now ripe for
mainstreaming of the nutritional traits improvement in pearl millet breeding programs.
New opportunities are emerging to improve the efficiency and precision of breeding.
Development and application of high-throughput genomic tools, speed breeding, and
precision phenotyping protocols need to be intensified to exploit a huge wealth of native
genetic variation available in pearl millet to accelerate the genetic gains.
 
Publisher Frontiers Media
 
Date 2021-03
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/11773/1/Genetic%20Gains%20in%20Pearl%20Millet%20in%20India%20-%20Insights%20into%20Historic%20Breeding....pdf
Yadav, O P and Gupta, S K and Govindaraj, M and Sharma, R and Varshney, R K and Srivastava, R K and Rathore, A and Mahala, R S (2021) Genetic Gains in Pearl Millet in India: Insights Into Historic Breeding Strategies and Future Perspective. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12 (645038). pp. 1-15. ISSN 1664-462X