Molecular Characterization of Drought Tolerant Genotypes of Pearl Millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] for A1 Zone

Pearl millet is a widely grown, climate resilient rainfed cereal crop cultivated on 29 million ha in the arid and semi-arid tropical regions of Asia and Africa accounting for almost half of global millet production. It is useful for minimizing the adverse effect of climate change, hence facilitating income and food security among farming communities. It has deep root system and exhibit climate-resilient features including adaptation to a wide range of ecological conditions, less irrigational requirements, better growth and productivity in low nutrient input conditions, less dependent on synthetic fertilizers and minimum vulnerability to environmental stresses and thus can survive in harsh climatic conditions, less fertile soil under water scarcity. Breeding of drought tolerant varieties and selecting genotypes for better water use efficiency is important in pearl millet to mitigate the changing climatic scenario. In this study, 24 genotypes of pearl millet which are drought tolerant and specific for A1 zone were characterized using 15 drought specific SSR primers. All the 15 SSRs amplified products of varying sizes ranging between 90-550 bp. A total of 40 alleles were obtained in this study and the number of alleles per locus varied between 2 to 5 with an average of 2.67 alleles. Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) varied from 0.34 to 0.76 with an average of 0.53 PIC value. This study will be useful for developing high yielding, dual purpose cultivars for low rainfall areas i.e. A1 zone and increasing pearl millet productivity.