Breeding Finger Millet for Biotic Stress Resistance

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.), commonly cultivated in countries with semiarid and tropical climate like India, can be a potential contributor in alleviating global hunger and malnutrition. The remarkable nutritional and agronomic characteristics of finger millet are of growing importance under the changing global climate scenario. Besides its nutritional benefits and climate resilience, the area, production, and productivity are lagging behind in global agriculture. In addition, there are several biotic and abiotic stresses that are restraining the genetic potential of finger millet. Biotic stresses including pests (pink stem borer, root aphid, etc.) and disease (blast, foot rot, etc.) further hinder the production potential of FM. Therefore, breeding for increased resistance will alleviate the damage caused by these pests and diseases. However, the narrow genetic base and lack of germplasm resources coupled with lesser application of advanced technologies constrained the development of resistance cultivars. Therefore, to meet the global nutritional security, there is urgent calls to enhance the genetic resistance in finger millet. This can be achieved by integrating conventional breeding approaches with advanced genomic and biotechnological approaches such as marker-assisted selection (MAS), marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS), marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC), genome-wide association studies (GWAS), genomic selection, haploid breeding, speed breeding and genome editing, etc. This chapter will focus on how these breeding techniques/approaches can be used for improving the biotic stress resistance in finger millet.