Abstract
Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is a cereal well known for its ability to be successfully grown under drought and intense heat conditions, thus sustaining food security in arid regions. Considering that a trend of increasing drought severity is expected in the future in Southern Europe, solutions need to be found to enhance the resilience of agroecosystems to the effects of climate change. From this perspective, proso millet re-introduction could represent an interesting tool in reducing water consumption for grain production and in providing a new resource to farmers. The aim of this study was to characterize proso millet adaptability to drought and low-input field conditions in the Mediterranean environment, especially considering water-related traits, such as water use efficiency. Limited water-demanding crops and yield stability can contribute to the resilience of agroecosystems and their adaptation to climate change. A three-year field crop experiment was conducted in northern Italy to assess proso millet’s performance in terms of productivity and water status in rainfed agriculture conditions. It was compared to a conventional irrigated corn, a typical summer cereal of the area. All years of experimentation were characterized by adverse meteorological trends, in the full manifestation of the uncertainties of climate change. Despite such different conditions from an agro-meteorological point of view, proso millet showed, in non-irrigated conditions, stable yield and water use efficiency (on average 0.30 kg/m2 and 1.83 kg/m3, respectively), and good agronomic performance. Proso millet, therefore, seems to offer interesting traits for reintroduction on the European side of the Mediterranean Basin, representing a resource for farmers. Moreover, the shortness of the proso millet life cycle (on average 108 days) allows it to be used as a catch crop in the event of major crop failure, an event becoming more likely in the climate change scenario. Furthermore, the possibility of producing grain while saving water (and other production inputs), even in very hot and dry years, increases the sustainability of agricultural production and the resilience of agroecosystems.
Highlights
The results of the present study show that proso millet is able to adapt to different climatic conditions, maintaining stable yields and water use efficiency (WUE)
The stability of millet’s performance confirmed a high resilience potential toward climate change impacts. This high adaptability to different environmental conditions might motivate a reintroduction of this crop in Northern Italy rotations, as an alternative crop of maize, which is the summer crop most affected by climate change in this area, for both agronomic and phytosanitary reasons
Proso millet certainly represents a resource for farmers, considering its short life cycle, which allows it to be employed as a catch crop and to avoid drought conditions in late summer
Summary
In the area of the Mediterranean Basin, climate change is characterized by high temperature with frequent heat waves, erratic precipitation, and extreme meteorological events (both floods and droughts). A trend of increasing drought severity is expected to show up in the future, as reported by [1]. This scenario of increasing heat stress occurrence and longer dry spells poses a serious threat to summer crop yield, as well as to the quality of crop production, making a proper crop choice for farmers difficult [2]
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