Vol. 12, Issue 9 (2023)

Author(s):
D Rajasekar, K Amudha, K Iyanar, M Djanaguiraman and R Karthikeyan

Abstract:
Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is an important staple millet for supplying food security in the world's dry regions. Despite its natural habitat for drought resistance, there is a considerable loss in plant stand because of water stress induced during the development period. In the present study, total of 40 genotypes have been studied for drought tolerance at seedling stages with varying levels of osmotic stress, viz., -3, -5, -7.5, and -10 bar using PEG 6000. Under increasing osmotic stress, a substantial decrease in germination%, shoot length, root length, and seedling vigour index was observed. The root shoot ratio had increased with the varying levels of treatments. Osmotic stress at -7.5 bar was highly relevant to evaluating drought tolerance in pearl millet, and genotypes Among the different genotypes screened for drought tolerance, the parental line such as PT5456, PT5721, PT5748, PT6303, PT7035, seed parent ICMB 99222, and landraces such as Cumbu1, Cumbu2, and Nattu cumbu had showed better performance with varying level of osmotic stress under laboratory conditions. These genotypes could be utilized for hybridization programme after assessing under field performance.