Abstract
An index which incorporates rates of plant growth and of development—a thermal interception rate (TIR)— is used to analyse final spikelet and grain number in pearl millet. Growth rate was assumed proportional to solar radiation intercepted (MJ per plant per day) and developmental rate to the accumulation of degree days above a previously determined base of 10 °C. Measurements were assembled from experiments in glasshouses with precise temperature control and from a field study in the tropics. The final number of spikelets was less sensitive to TIR than the final number of grains per plant. The critical period for the determination of grain number is from floral initiation to anthesis (GS2 period).
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