Phenotypic Responses of Twenty Diverse Proso Millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) Accessions to Irrigation

Abstract

Abstract:To date, little research has been conducted on the phenotypic responses of proso millet to drought and deficit irrigation treatments in the dryland wheat-based cropping systems of the Palouse bioregion of the U.S. The objectives of this study were to evaluate critical agronomic traits of proso millet, including emergence, plant height, days to heading, days to maturity, and grain yield, with and without supplemental irrigation. Twenty diverse proso millet accessions, originating from Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Morocco, the former Soviet Union, Turkey, and the United States, were grown in irrigated and non-irrigated treatments under organic conditions in Pullman, WA, from 2012 to 2014. Irrigation was shown to significantly improve emergence and increase plant height at stem extension and to hasten ripening of all the varieties, whereas heading date was not affected by irrigation in two of the three years tested. Irrigation resulted in higher mean seed yield across all varieties, with 'GR 665' and 'Earlybird' performing best under irrigation. Seed yield was highest in 'GR 658' and 'Minsum' in the non-irrigated treatment, suggesting the importance of identification and utilization of varieties adapted to low rainfall conditions. The highest yielding varieties in irrigated systems are unlikely be the highest yielding in dryland systems. Our results suggest that millet has potential as a regionally novel crop for inclusion in traditional dryland cropping rotations in the Palouse ecosystem, thereby contributing to increased cropping system diversity.

Beyond Bird Feed: Proso Millet for Human Health and Environment

“…This suggests the same variety which has a higher yield at irrigation may not be high yielding at non-irrigation. According to their studies, varieties like "GR658" and "Minsum" were very successful in non-irrigated plots while "GR665" and "Earlybird" were successful in irrigated plots [10].…”

“…It also allows PM to adapt and grow without using much subsoil water and mostly relies on early summer rains. Due to this, the soil moisture level at planting can be used to predict grain yield as it responds more considerably to soil water at the time of planting when compared to crops such as corn, sunflower and sorghum [10,11,29].…”

“…As a warm season crop, millets are highly adapted to high temperature and very much sensitive to frost. The optimal temperature for growth is 20-30 • C. In addition, the rise in temperature above 30 • C stops the vegetative growth and flowering of PM, and its primary stems are maintained at a shorter height to better resist the drought [10].…”

“…It is one of the best-suited crops for the rainfed agricultural system where annual rainfall is ≤100 mm [8,9]. The shallow root system (90-120 cm) and short growing season crop (60-90 days) make it an ideal dryland crop [10,11]. In the USA, it is grown as a dryland crop on an average of 204,366 ha land [12].…”

The 21st Century Agriculture: When Rice Research Draws Attention to Climate Variability and How Weedy Rice and Underutilized Grains Come in Handy

“…to name a few, finally received the research attention that they deserve in the last couple of years due mainly to their hardiness, versatility, and exquisite nutritional benefits [1,92,95,96]. These underutilized crops were a staple in their native homes for hundreds of years, and they possess some degree of tolerance to certain stresses, as shown in Table 2 [97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104]. An evidential example of their superior genes of nutrional importance is the development of protato (protein-rich potato) that was engineered to express the AmA1 albumin protein of Amaranthus hypochondriacus [105].…”