Background: Foxtail millet is one of the nutri-cereal foods for the people of semi arid regions. Proper nutrient management and source-sink alteration are major keys for achieving higher productivity in millets. However, potassium is not recommended to foxtail millet and the potential yield is not exploited. And also the study of source-sink alteration in foxtail millet by using plant growth regulators is meager. Methods: An experiment was conducted to study the impact of plant growth retardants viz., chlormequat chloride (CCC) and mepiquat chloride (MC) with the nutrient potassium (K2SO4 - 1%) on growth, gas exchange parameters and grain yield of foxtail millet under rainfed condition. Plant growth retardants with potassium consortium were used as foliar spray at flower initiation stage under field condition. Standard methods were used to measure the plant height, root length, number of leaves, LAD, CGR and grain yield. The photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and leaf temperature were measured by using the instrument PPS. Result: Foliar spray of CCC (250 ppm) with 1% K2SO4 showed supremacy to enhance crop growth rate, leaf area duration, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and grain yield compared to other treatments. However, lowest plant height (100.7 cm) and number of leaves were observed by CCC (250 ppm) alone. Highest photosynthetic rate (26.84) and transpiration rate (17.94) were registered by CCC + K2SO4. Lowest leaf temperature of 34.1ºC was registered by 1% K2SO4 compared to control (35.6°C). CCC with K2SO4 recorded highest LAD value of 46.1 which is on par with K2SO4 alone (45.9). CCC with K2SO4 registered highest grain yield of 2.13 t ha-1 with increased yield of 18.3% over control. However, highest benefit cost ratio of ratio of 2.75 was recorded by 1% K2SO4 alone.

Background: The major abiotic stress limiting the plant growth and productivity across the globe is salinity. This may be overwhelmed by growing salt tolerant varieties. Hence, the present study has been figured out to sort out the salt tolerant and salt sensitive cultivars of finger millet. Methods: In this study 15 cultivars of finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) seeds were grown at different NaCl concentrations (50 mM, 100 mM, 150 mM and 200 mM) on germination stage. Germination percentage, root length, shoot length, fresh weight, dry weight and vigour index of the seedlings were measured using different concentrations of NaCl. Result: Salt tolerant cultivars were discovered to be GPU 28, GPU 67, ML 365, Udurumallige, PYR1 and GPU 48 at 150 Mm and ML 365 at 200 Mm salt accumulation, while cultivars such as VL 400 and KM252 were very much sensitive to NaCl. Accessions with tolerance to salinity are precious genetic material for future crop improvement program.

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A high yielding and early maturing prosomillet culture TNPm 230 was developed at the Centre of excellence, Athiyandal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and released TNPm 230 as ATL1at national level. It is a derivative of the cross involving TNAU 164 x IPM 19. It yields on average grain yield of 2152 kg/ha and straw yield of 5970 kg/haunder rainfed condition. This variety has registered 12 and 15 per cent increased grain yield over the checks TNAU145 and GPUP 21 respectively in All India Coordinated trials. Proposed variety has given Eight and 11 per cent increased grain yield over the qualifying varieties TNPm 228 and DHPrMV 2721 respectively. TNPm 230has semi-compact panicle, bold seeds and exhibited better grain quality than the checks; on par for a response to agronomic practices, susceptible to banded blight in AP only. Therefore, the entry TNPm 230 as ATL1 is recommended for the national level release except in Andhra Pradesh. KeywordsProso millet new early maturing variety https://doi.