Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] and finger millet [Eleusine coracana Gaertn] are staple cereal crops in Africa and Asia with several desirable agronomic and nutritional properties. Tef is becoming a life-style crop as it is gluten-free while finger millet has a low glycemic index which makes it an ideal food for diabetic patients. However, both tef and finger millet have extremely low grai...

Severe soil organic carbon (SOC) depletion is a major constraint in rainfed agroecosystems in India because it directly influences soil quality, crop productivity and sustainability. The magnitude of soil organic, inorganic and total carbon stocks in the semi-arid bioclimate is estimated at 2.9, 1.9 and 4.8 Pg respectively. Sorghum, finger millet, pearl millet, maize, rice, groundnut, soybean, ...

Background and Aims Intercropping systems contain two or more species simultaneously in close proximity. Due to contrasting features of the component crops, quantification of the light environment and photosynthetic productivity is extremely difficult. However it is an essential component of productivity. Here, a low-tech but high-resolution method is presented that can be applied to single- an...

Satellite panicum mosaic virus (SPMV) depends on its helper Panicum mosaic virus (PMV) for replication and spread in host plants. The SPMV RNA encodes a 17-kDa capsid protein (CP) that is essential for formation of its 16-nm virions. The results of this study indicate that in addition to the expression of the full-length SPMV CP from the 5'-proximal AUG start codon, SPMV RNA also expresses a 9....

It was reported that Nuclear Factor Y (NF-Y) genes were involved in abiotic stress in plants. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica), an elite stress tolerant crop, provided an impetus for the investigation of the NF-Y families in abiotic responses. In the present study, a total of 39 NF-Y genes were identified in foxtail millet. Synteny analyses suggested that foxtail millet NF-Y genes had experienc...

Calcium is an essential macronutrient for plants and animals and plays an indispensable role in structure and signaling. Low dietary intake of calcium in humans has been epidemiologically linked to various diseases which can have serious health consequences over time. Major staple food-grains are poor source of calcium, however, finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.], an orphan crop has...

Studies were conducted in growth chambers to characterize absorption and translocation of C-glyphosate applied alone or in mixture with MSMA in browntop millet and Palmer amaranth. MSMA antagonized activity of glyphosate in both weed species. Absorption of C-glyphosate in Palmer amaranth was rapid and increased with time from 11.1% at 0.5 h after treatment to 68.1% at 168 HAT. Absorption of C-g...

Crop growth and productivity has largely been vulnerable to various abiotic and biotic stresses that are only set to be compounded due to global climate change. Therefore developing improved varieties and designing newer approaches for crop improvement against stress tolerance have become a priority now-a-days. However, most of the crop improvement strategies are directed toward staple cereals ...

Ongoing global climate changes imply new challenges for agriculture. Whether plants and crops can adapt to such rapid changes is still a widely debated question. We previously showed adaptation in the form of earlier flowering in pearl millet at the scale of a whole country over three decades. However, this analysis did not deal with variability of year to year selection. To understand and poss...

Moringa oleifera is a nutrient rich plant that has the potential to combat malnutrition problems in Africa. This study aims to investigate the effect of fortification using Moringa oleifera flower powder on the sensory and proximate attributes of fermented yellow maize and millet blend (Ogi). The formulation was grouped into seven blends in ratio 100:0:0, 70:30:0, 70:25:5, 70:20:10, 70:15:15, 7...