Pearl millet plays an important role for food security in arid regions of Africa and India. Nevertheless, it is considered an orphan crop as it lags far behind other cereals in terms of genetic improvement efforts. Breeding pearl millet varieties with improved root traits promises to deliver benefits in water and nutrient acquisition. Here, we characterize early pearl millet root system develop...

The root microbes play pivotal roles in plant productivity, nutrient uptakes, and disease resistance. The root microbial community structure has been extensively investigated by 16S/18S/ITS amplicons and metagenomic sequencing in crops and model plants. However, the functional associations between root microbes and host plant growth are poorly understood. This work investigates the root bacteri...

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn) is a staple food crop grown by subsistence farmers in the semi-arid tropics of South Asia and Africa. It remains highly valued by traditional farmers as it is nutritious, drought tolerant, short duration, and requires low inputs. Its continued propagation may help vulnerable farmers mitigate climate change. Unfortunately, the land area cultivated wi...

Child malnutrition is a major problem in Western Uganda where finger millet porridges are commonly used as complementary foods. This study aimed at improving the nutritional value and safety of finger millet porridges using Moringa oleifera, Cucurbita maxima and lactic acid fermentation. Proximate analysis, iron, zinc and vitamin A contents of composite flours was done according to AOAC methods...

The objective of this study was to determine how harvest maturity of whole-crop cereals commonly used in swath grazing systems in western Canada affects yield, chemical composition, and in situ digestibility. We hypothesized that the increase in yield with advancing maturity would not offset the decline in digestibility and, thus, the yield of effectively degradable DM (EDDM) would decline with...

Gas production profiles were obtained from in vitro fermentation of stems of six genotypes of sorghum and millet grown at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), India. The ranking of sorghum and millet genotypes by cumulative gas production was consistent throughout the 96-hour fermentation period. However, differences were proportionally greater during ...

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.R. Br., Poaceae) has its origins as a cereal crop adapted to the harshest growing conditions in sub-Saharan Africa. Although currently used as a forage and cover crop in many regions of the US, Brazil, Australia, and Canada, grain hybrids have attributes that are of value in production systems of the southeastern United States. Successful integration of pearl ...

Sorghum and millet grow in some of the most heterogeneous and austere agroecologies around the world. These crops are amongst the top five cereal sources of food and feed. Yet, few studies document the impact of sorghum and millet genetic enhancement. The Internal Rate of Return (ROR) is one of the most popular metrics used to measure the economic return on investment on agricultural research a...

Knowledge of specific peroxidases that respond to aphid herbivory is limited in C4 grasses, but could provide targets for improving defence against these pests. A sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) peroxidase (SbPrx-1; Sobic.002G416700) has been previously linked to biotic stress responses, andwas the starting point for this study. Genomic analyses indicated that SbPrx-1 was part of a clade ...

Our research indicates that in Kerman and Fars provinces the phenomenal growth of seeds dietary supplements have received considerable interest, because of their presumed safety and potential, nutritional and functional effects. This interest can be attributed to several social and economic factors, including consumer beliefs. The amount of 7 minerals Zn, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, K and Na, were determin...