Pearl millet is a climate resilient crop and one of the most widely grown millets worldwide. Heterotic hybrid development is one of the principal breeding objectives in pearl millet. In a maiden attempt to identify heterotic groups for grain yield, a total of 343 hybrid parental [maintainer (B-) and restorer (R-)] lines were genotyped with 88 polymorphic SSR markers. The SSRs generated a total ...

Downy mildew disease caused by the fungus Sclerospora graminicola Schroet, causes yield losses across the millet growing zones of Nigeria. Identification of the source of resistance and gene actions controlling resistance is useful in developing appropriate breeding strategies. Therefore there was need to study downy mildew resistance in Nigerian elite pearl millet lines. Five pearl millet pare...

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) are major warm-season cereals largely grown for grain production in the semi-arid tropical regions of Asia and Africa. Under rain-fed farming systems with little external inputs, their grain yield levels are often low (<1 t /ha). However, improved hybrid cultivars, when grown under well-irrigated and well-fertilized conditions, hav...

Micronutrient malnutrition, especially deficiency of two mineral elements, iron [Fe] and zinc [Zn] in the developing world needs urgent attention. Pearl millet is one of the best crops with many nutritional properties and is accessible to the poor. We report findings of the first attempt to mine favorable alleles for grain iron and zinc content through association mapping in pearl millet. An as...

Stromatal fruiting bodies of Cordyceps cardinalis were successfully produced in cereals. Brown rice, German millet and standard millet produced the longest-length of stromata, followed by Chinese pearl barley, Indian millet, black rice and standard barley. Oatmeal produced the shortest-length of fruiting bodies. Supplementation of pupa and larva to the grains resulted in a slightly enhanced pro...

Millets are annual grasses and grow well under the marginal conditions of soil fertility and moisture, which provide staple food for millions of people. Millets have strong, deep rooting systems and short life cycles. Breeding research in millets, habitually engages different species, cultivars, and varieties. This makes an immense challenge to maintain the different varieties and their identif...

Millets are annual grasses and grow well under the marginal conditions of soil fertility and moisture, which provide staple food for millions of people. Millets have strong, deep rooting systems and short life cycles. Breeding research in millets, habitually engages different species, cultivars, and varieties. This makes an immense challenge to maintain the different varieties and their identif...