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Genetic Resources Diversity of Finger Millet – a Global Perspective

OAR@ICRISAT

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/4222/
 
Title Genetic Resources Diversity of Finger Millet – a Global Perspective
 
Creator Upadhyaya, H D
 
Subject Millets
 
Description Finger millet is a traditional grain cereal in Africa and South Asia. The crop
has a wide range of adaptation, can withstand adverse soil and weather
conditions, and is grown at altitudes from sea level to about 2,400 m. The
grain yield potential is good, and the grain is highly nutritious, particularly rich
in methionine, iron and calcium. However, finger millet has been neglected
by mainstream research. One way to boost production and productivity
and enhance acceptability is to assemble diverse germplasm resources,
characterise them to identify traits of agronomic importance, and use them
to breed superior varieties. ICRISAT’s genebank in Patancheru, India, holds
5,949 germplasm accessions from 23 countries. Of the six races of finger
millet, Vulgaris is the most predominant (61% of the total collections). The
accessions have been characterised for five qualitative and 14 quantitative
traits. The quantitative data show that the race Africana is more distinct
than other races, and had the highest means for 10 out of 14 traits measured.
To overcome the problems of managing a large collection and to enhance
the use of germplasm in crop improvement, ICRISAT has developed a core
collection containing 622 accessions (10% of the entire collection) based on
geographical origin and quantitative traits. The core collection was evaluated
in 2004 and a further mini-core collection (10% of the core or 1% of the entire
collection) was constituted, with 65 accessions. In addition, a composite set
of germplasm comprising 1,000 accessions has been developed under the
Generation Challenge Program. This set is being characterised; microsatellite
markers will be used to access the genes for beneficial traits.
 
Date 2007
 
Type Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/4222/1/Genetic_Resources_Diversity_of_Finger_Millet_-_a_Global_Pers.pdf
Upadhyaya, H D (2007) Genetic Resources Diversity of Finger Millet – a Global Perspective. In: Finger millet Blast Management in East Africa. Creating opportunities for improving production and utilization of finger millet Proceedings Of the First International Finger millet Stakeholders Workshop, 13-14 September 2005, Nairobi, Kenya.