Description

Adequate stand establishment of pearl millet continues to be a severe constraint to good production under subsistence farming conditions in the semi-arid tropics. Failure to obtain adequate plant populations is often associated with high temperature conditions occurring at critical times during the germination and seedling establishment process at farmers field which can only be managed through developing high temperature tolerant pearl millet varieties. Identification of the superior germplasm for heat tolerance is essential for effective manipulation through breeding. A major challenge in conventional breeding for heat tolerance is the identification of reliable and effective screening methods to facilitate detection of heat-tolerant plants. The book describes the screening methods (field screening and laboratory screening) and their validation for heat tolerance to identify superior heat tolerant genotypes. It also describes the genetic mechanisms and nature and magnitude of different types of gene actions involved in the inheritance of supra-optimal temperature tolerance in pearl millet.