Pearl millet is the fifth most important mandate crop research and development in IUBTPL. A very strong and intensive breeding programmer has been developed, which was resulted in the development of broad based genetic resource and commercialization of several hybrids for various maturity groups and growing conditions.
Strengths
Excellent collection of diverse CMS and restorer lines having the following traits :
- Earliness
- Compact long head
- Downy mildew (DM) resistance
- Thin stem with high number of tillers
- High head volume
- Diverse grain type
GENETIC ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMME TO DEVELOP :
- DM resistant CMS (A/B) lines
- DM resistant restorer (R) lines
- Breeding lines with more tiller and superior grain quality
- Lines with rust resistance and drought tolerance
BREEDING OBJECTIVES :
Development of hybrids having
- Early to medium duration, tall plant type with compact heads for low input, rainfed growing condition
- Medium to long duration tall plant type with compact heads for high management conditions
- Medium-duration, heat tolerance for high - input condition
- Resistance to all the major race of downy mildew
- High fodder yield with more number of tillers and thin stem
- Medium to bold size grains for specific market requirement
