ADVANCES IN PEARL MILLET TO MITIGATE ADVERSE ENVIRONMENT
CONDITIONS EMERGED DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING
R. K. ARYA*, M. K. SINGH1, A. K. YADAV2, ASHWANI KUMAR3 AND SURESH KUMAR4
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : rajesharya@hau.ernet.in)
(Received : 14 August 2014; Accepted : 12 September 2014)
SUMMARY
Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is one of the most important crops of inhabitants of hot and dry conditions of the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. Like other crops, pearl millet is affected by temperature, rainfall (timing and quantity), CO2, solar radiation, soil types and the interaction of these elements. Now-a-days, global warming may cause serious problem in agricultural production, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. As the abiotic stresses affect the seed germination, plant growth and development, resulting in drastic reduction in yield. Pearl millet is a multipurpose crop grown in these areas due to its tolerance to high temperature, drought and salinity. But, further improvement for abiotic tolerance is of instant need, for economization of agriculture in these areas. Therefore, to develop/identify tolerant genotypes, knowledge of screening methods, stress tolerance mechanisms along with breeding techniques is important. Abiotic stresses decrease the rate of germination and may also inhibit the germination depending on heat tolerance of the genotype. A lot of genetic variability is available for heat, drought and salt tolerance in peal millet. Breeding for heat tolerance information of genetic variability, gene action (additive and non-additive), heritability, stability and correlation in relation to heat tolerance is available. Gene interactions on stress tolerance showed its complex nature of inherence. Both conventional as well as molecular breeding techniques were utilized for genetic improvement for tolerance against abiotic stresses in pearl millet.
Key words:Heat, drought, salinity, tolerance, pearl millet