Scientists have been studying crops that adapt to global warming for several years.
Pearl millet (Cenchrus americanus) widelyknown as Pennisetum glaucum - pearl millet, or American pinnately. This is an annual herbaceous plant 3 to 4 m high. Its root penetrates the soil to a depth of 3.6 m, with 80% of the root mass located at a depth of 10 cm. The fruit contains from 1000 to 3000 grains with a diameter of up to 5 mm, white, yellow, red or black in color.
The plant is native to tropical Africa, wherewas cultivated 4900 years ago. As a cultivated plant, it got through the Arabian Peninsula to India and Burma, where it is widely cultivated in the arid tropics at an altitude of 800 to 1800 m above sea level.
“Pearl millet is an important grain crop,containing the same or even better nutrients as wheat, with higher levels of zinc and iron, ”emphasizes Wolfram Weckwerth of the Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology at the University of Vienna and research leader.
In his laboratory, molecular systemBiology (MOSYS), he, together with scientists from the University of Oviedo, carefully studied the resistance of plants to drought and heat stress. Spain), National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana (Slovenia), IROST Tehran (Iran) and ICRISAT Group (India) CEGSB.
It is an underutilized culture, despite its characteristics.
When it comes to resistance toclimatic stressors, water resources are a critical parameter. It is also warm, especially during periods of prolonged drought. During the experiments of scientists, millet coped with all these factors better than wheat.
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