Response Of Pearl Millet Research Articles

Response of pearl-millet to zinc fertilization in relation to DTPA extractable zinc

The response of pearl-millet (Pennisetum americanum) grown on forty eight diverse soils to applied zinc fertilization was examined in a screenhouse experiment. The DTPA-extractable soil zinc ranged from 0.34 to 1.42 mg kg−1. In many of the soils yield was increased by the addition of zinc and there were large differences in the size of the response. The critical level of zinc in soil and plant — below which response to applied zinc may be expected — was determined by a graphical method. The values found were 0.65 and 18 mg kg−1, respectively. Bray's percent yield was positively and significantly related with both soil Zn (r = 0.88) and plant Zn (r = 0.72).

Response of pearl millet to grain sorghum environments

Increasing awareness of drought tolerance in pearl millet [ Pennisetum americanum (L.) Leeke.] has stimulated research into pearl millet as a potential U.S. crop. Objectives of this study were to compare yield and yield components of pearl millet and grain sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] and evaluate pearl millet response to a range of grain sorghum environments. Yield and yield component comparisons were made using 24 millet hybrids and six grain sorghum hybrids at seven Kansas locations, from 1980 to 1982. To compare pearl millet production in grain sorghum environments, millet hybrid mean yields were regressed on sorghum location means. A desirable millet hybrid would have a high yield and a regression coefficient not significantly different from 1.0. Average grain sorghum yields were greater than millet yields in all three years. Millet hybrid yields ranged from 350 to 5400 kg ha −1. Over all locations and years, millet yield averaged 63% of sorghum yield. In unfavorable environments, pearl millet yield and response to changing environments were not significantly different from those of grain sorghum. As environmental conditions improved, sorghum significantly yielded more than millet. Lower millet yields could be attributed to significantly smaller seed size and head sterility. The small seed also reduced plant establishment; however millet's tillering ability compensated for reduced population.

Cowpea and Pearl Millet response to organic amendments in semiarid alfisols of telengana, Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract Experiments were established in a loamy sand and a sandy loam (belonging to the family of Typic Haplustalfs and Typic Rhodustalfs of the great soil group Alfisols) with pearl millet and cowpea crop residues, cattle manure, and compost at 20 kg N ha−1 equivalence grown over an 8‐year period. These two crops were grown in rotation. Pearl millet received additionally 20 kg N ha−1, while 8.7 kg P ha−1 was applied to cowpea in this rotation. It was found that incorporation of crop residues at 2.0 tons • ha−1 (20 kg N ha−1) of pearl millet or cowpea gave increased yields of 18 and 13%, respectively. This was accompanied by improvement in the hydraulic conductivity, available N and K, and a tendency for increased mean weight.

Flowering response of pearl millet to water stress during panicle development*

SUMMARYIn pearl millet, severe water deficit during the period of panicle development delays flowering. The flowering response of both main shoot and tillers to water stress during panicle development was investigated using four hybrids. Panicle initiation of all tillers occurred in the three early genotypes despite water stress. In the late genotype, however, panicle initiation of tillers occurred only after the release of stress. The delay in flowering due to water stress was more pronounced in the tillers than in the main shoot. However, the proportion of tillers producing an inflorescence was increased by water stress. Grain yield losses on the main shoot by water stress were compensated by an increase in tiller grain yields. Delay in flowering and buffering by tillers provide an important adaptive mechanism to overcome a period of drought stress prior to flowering.

Response of pearl millet to light and temperature

Temperature exerts a major effect on the rate at which crop plants develop and on processes of expansion and extension. Light determines the rate of growth (i.e., dry-matter production) at any stage of development. But three are important interactions: development can be slowed by low light and growth can be retarded when the temperature is too high or too low. The simplest development response is that of germination when light is not a factor. Germination rate of pearl millet cv. BK 560 increased linearly with temperature from a base of 10–12°C to a sharply defined optimum at 33–34°C and declined to zero at about 45–47°C. Other developmental processes such as leaf and spikelet initiation and tillering responded similarly to temperature. The limited information available suggests that the base temperature at which development stops is different for contaasting varieties: the rate and the duration of specific developmental processes also differ. Rate of leaf extention is also a linear function of temperature up to about 34°C so that the time needed to form a complete canopy decreases with increasing temperature below that limit. However, the amount of dry matter produced per unit of intercepted radiation appears to be conservative at about 2.4 g/MJ (+10%) for mean air temperatures ranging from 20 to 36°C. The highest yield, both biological and economic, was obtained at 22°C, mainly because the duration of cv. BK 560 was about 30 days longer at 22 than at 31°C, for example. The effects of temperature on the distribution of photosynthate and nitrate and nitrogen uptake in other cultivate of pearl millet are also discussed. Priorities for research are summarised in the Conclusion.

Response of pearlmillet to inoculation with different strains ofAzospirillum brasilense

Inoculation of pearlmillet withA. brasilense resulted in significant increase in growth and dry matter both under sterilized and unsterilized conditions. There was a marked stimulation of root growth and increase in the number of lateral roots and root hairs. Nitrogenase activity of the roots was very low and did not support the increase in plant growth due to inoculation. Significant differences in plant growth were observed among the strains ofA. brasilense and the most effective strain was S14, an isolate fromCyanodon dactylon. Strains which caused maximum increase in plant growth in all the experiments showed lower specific nitrogenase activity and total N2-fixation in the laboratory but produced higher quantities of auxins in the culture filtrates.