Finger millet as mandate crop of ICRISAT.Home

Finger millet was figured among the six small millets in research portfolio of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), has now been formally made its mandate crop.

ICRISAT Director-General David Bergvinson said “Finger millet has always been within our mandate crops but we want to provide greater visibility to this nutri-cereal that offers so much to smallholders in the form of economic opportunity and to consumers in the form of improved nutrition”.
This is an important recognition for a crop which has been an integral part of the ICRISAT’s research portfolio.

Also finger millet variety U15 is the most preferred for its early maturity and grain colour, while IE 3779 is preferred for its resistance to blast disease and tolerance to lodging. ICRISAT scientists in East and Southern African region have generated a whole genome sequence of finger millet.

In Karnataka finger millet is among the ‘climate smart’ crops that figures high on the agenda of the government.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/