Pearl millet cultivars for grain and fodder production
Sep 2014
Pearl Millet Cultivars for
Grain and Fodder Production
• Pearl millet cultivated on 8.5 million ha
in India
• National average grain yield is about
1000 kg ha-1
Cultivar Options
• Open-Pollinated Varieties (OPVs): suitable for
low rainfall areas with less input management
• Hybrids: suitable for irrigable areas and
better endowed environment with high input
management
Promising hybrids for grain production
HHB 67- Improved: a hybrid for marginal
environments
• Earliest maturing (60-65 days) with 15 to 20
quintals grain and 41 quintals dry fodder yield
per ha
• Seed of this hybrid is available with National
Seed Corporation and APSDC.
Private Companies hybrids
• Several hybrids have been developed by Seed
Companies, having grain yield ranging from 35
to 45 quintals and fodder yield ranging from 70
to 120 quintals per ha (Fig 1).
• XL 51 from Bayer Bioscience, Ajeet 38 from
Ajeet Seeds, 86M86 from Pioneer Overseas
Corporation, and JKBH 676 from JK AgriGenetics.
Exclusive Fodder cultivars
• High yielding
forage variety
have been
developed at
ICRISAT that
gives 120-130
quintals of dry
fodderyield/ha
in single cut
(Fig 2)
• Multi-cut
high yielding
forage hybrid
also being
developed at
ICRISAT that
give 150-160
quintals/ha
cumulative
dry fodder
yield.
Fig 1. High yielding grain hybrid
Fig 2. High yielding forage variety.
High-Iron Pearl Millet Variety: Dhanashakti
• Dhanashakti has high iron content (71 mg kg-1
),
it matures in 76-78 days, has 2.2 t ha-1
grain yield,
13% higher dry fodder yield than ICTP 8203 and well
adopted to low fertility dry areas (Fig 3)
• Seed of this variety is available with Nirmal Seeds
Company.
Fig 3. High iron variety ‘Dhanashakti’
This work is
undertaken
as part of