Millet is a cereal of enormous importance with potentials in the agricultural systems and food security but it constitutes a neglected agrobiodiversity. Soil borne pathogenic fungi could be possible culprit to millet cultivation in southwestern Nigeria. Therefore, this study investigates the pathogenic effect of isolated Fusarium species from soil on millet seedlings under greenhouse conditions...

About 26% of the Indian population is deficient in calories and 28% in protein (Chand et al. 2003). The deficiency is most acute among the poor. The magnitude of micronutrient [iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn)] deficit is particularly alarming among children, women of reproductive age, and pregnant and lactating women (Sharma 2003). Current efforts to combat micronutrient malnutrition in the developing ...

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) and napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) are the most economically important species in the genus Pennisetum. Knowledge of genetic diversity of these two species would enhance their potentials for utilization. The present work assessed the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship among Nigerian and Indian accessions of pearl millet an...

Pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum, has potential as a grain crop in the southeastern United States. Although it is used as a food grain in India and Africa, its primary use in the United States is high quality feed for poultry and livestock (1,6,15). Hybrids adapted to the southeast should be high yielding, resistant to the rust fungus Puccinia substriata var. indica, and early maturing. The two...

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...

Brassica juncea Nonexpressor of pathogenesis-related genes 1 (BjNPR1) has been introduced into pearl millet male fertility restorer line ICMP451 by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation. Transgenic pearl millet plants were regenerated from the phosphinothricin-resistant calli obtained after co-cultivation with A. tumefaciens strain LBA4404 harbouring Ti plasmid pSB111-bar-Bj...

Optimisation of composite flour comprising pearl millet, kidney beans and tigernut with xanthan gum was evaluated for rheological evaluations. The functional properties of the composite flour were optimized using optimal design of response surface methodology. The optimum blends, defined as blends with overall best functional characteristics were run 3 (75.956% pearl millet, 17.692% kidney bean...

A considerable proportion of the arable land cropped with pearl millet in northern Nigeria is affected by salt concentration. Pot experiments were conducted at Maiduguri in Sudan savanna to determine the influence of NaCl concentration on growth and nutrient content of pearl millet. The treatments comprised of three NaCl concentrations: 0.0, 1.4336 and 2.1504g/kg of soil and five pearl millet v...

We investigated nucleotide polymorphism in the Adh1 locus of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) (Poaceae) by determining the DNA sequence of 20 alleles from 10 individuals. The individuals were sampled from throughout pearl millet's indigenous range and represent both wild and cultivated accessions. Our results indicated that there is little nucleotide polymorphism in the Adh1 locus. Estimates o...

Forage production is primarily limited by weather conditions under dryland production systems in Brazilian semi-arid regions, therefore sowing at the appropriate time is critical. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the CSM-CERES-Pearl Millet model from the DSSAT software suite for its ability to simulate growth, development, and forage accumulation of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum...