Irradiated foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) P.Beauv): agronomic and physiological performances under low light intensity

Abstract

The research was carried out to study the agronomic and physiological performances of gamma rays Irradiated Foxtail Millet (IFM) under low light intensity as an effort to obtain a shade-tolerant mutant. The experiment was performed in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two factors. The first factor was shading intensities, whereas the second factor was foxtail millet mutants resulting from gamma rays irradiation. The observation was performed on agronomic and physiological parameters, including plant growth, chlorophyll content (CC), photosynthesis rate (PR), and panicle production (PP). The result of this study showed that low light intensity decreased CC and PR values. The statistical analysis showed that CC value in 50% shading (33.02SPAD) was significantly different, with 0% shading (47.56 SPAD). Accordingly to this result, the PR value at 50% shading (7.112μmolm−2s−1) presented a significant difference as compared to 0% shading (19.379μmolm−2s−1). Observations on the plant height of GM 75.16 showed no significant difference with the control plants. Similarly, the result of PP on GM75.16 (17.03g) was not significantly different as compared to the control (16.24 g) and GM75.14 (14.10g). Therefore, GM 75.16was identified as a shade-tolerant mutant due to its ability to sustain the growth and development under low light intensity.