Breeding Proso Millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) for Abiotic Stress Resistance

Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is an annual cereal crop known for its historical significance. This millet is decent provenance of energy, providing edible share of carbohydrates, crude fibre and protein content along with enhanced amino acid composition. But proso millet is predominantly cultivated in marginal, arid, and semi-arid regions. It is one of the most imperative crops in today’s climate-change scenario and has high weightage for sustaining production in dry-land agriculture. The mode to expand tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity is crucial to expand yielding potentially. The prevalence of moisture stress or elevated temperature during the ear emergence stage noticeably lessens seed weight and seed number per panicle leading it as critical stage. The secondary stresses like oxidative and osmotic stress also cause early aging of plants. It is also a target for frost due to the detail that is a warm-season crop. Hence, concentrated efforts to appreciate and expand tolerance to abiotic burdens such as drought, heat, and salinity are crucial to improve yield. Identification of QTLs/genes, proteins conferring resistance to abiotic and biotic stress and manipulative and development of gene specific markers would further aid in understanding the molecular machinery of stress tolerance. Thus, this will make proso as a best climate smart crop.