Strategies for enhancing productivity, resilience, nutritional quality, and consumption of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] for food and nutritional security in India

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is an important component of agri-food system in areas experiencing drought and high temperature and for increasing the resilience to climatic stresses and addressing malnutrition. The purpose of this review is to examine strategies for improving productivity, stress resilience, and nutritional quality of pearl millet and to understand its consumption pattern. Genetic diversification of hybrid parental lines remains strategically important to breed diverse, disease-resistant and drought-tolerant hybrids. Resistance to diseases, tolerance to drought, and high temperature and greater contents of iron and zinc are targeted in improving hybrid parental lines. Lodging resistance, compact panicles, panicle exertion, and improved seed set are universal traits, whereas duration, tillering ability, seed color, and seed size have a strong regional preference. The strategy of developing high-yielding and disease-resistant hybrids with adaptation to challenged agro-ecologies has led to increase in yield from 303 to 1219 kg/ha between 1960 and 2020. Yield and stress resilience are to be increased further using conventional breeding and new tools like genomic selection, speed breeding, genome editing, and precision phenotyping. Mainstreaming grain nutritional traits, viz., iron and zinc contents in genetic improvement are essential to develop high-yielding and nutrient-rich pearl millet. There is need to enhance the consumption of pearl millet by strengthening existing value-chain, providing consumer a choice of diverse range of food products, creating awareness about its health benefits and promotion through government schemes.