Diversity and Utilization Status of Millets Genetic Resources in Nepal
Creators: name: Ghimire, Krishna
name: Bhandari, Bharat
name: Gurung, Suk B
name: Dhami, Narayan Bahadur
name: Bimal Kumar Baniya
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: 70305 Crop and Pasture Improvement (Selection and Breeding)
subject: FOS: Agriculture, forestry and fisheries
subject: FOS: Agriculture, forestry and fisheries

description: Millet is the group of small seeded cereal crops. Major millets grown in Nepal are finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.], proso millet [Panicum miliaceum L.] and foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P.Beauv.]. Besides, barn yard millet<br>[Echinochloa frumentacea Link], sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], pearl millet [Pennisetum typhoides (Burm.f.) Stapf &amp; C.E.Hubb.Hubb.] etc are also grown. Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. and Eleusine africana Kenn.-O'Byrne are the two wild forms that have been reported their existence in Nepal. Millets are under-utilized but important food crops for rural poor farming communities living under subsistence and marginal environments in the Hills of Nepal. They are also known as Himalayan Super-foods due to their nutrient-dense nature. Five varieties of finger millets namely Okhle-1, Dalle-1, Kabre kodo-1, Kabre kodo-2 and Sailung kodo-1 have been released so far from Hill Crops Research Program (HCRP) but no varieties of other millet species have been released in the country. Finger millet is the 4th most important crop of Nepal after rice, maize and wheat in terms of area and production and it occupies an average of 7.9% (268,050 ha) of the total area covered by cereal crops and accounts for 3.3% (308,488 mt) of total cereal production. Major finger millet producing districts of the country are Khotang, Sindhupalchok, Baglung, Syangja, Kaski, Gorkha and Sindhuli. National Agriculture Genetic Resources Centre (NAGRC) holds more than 850 finger millet genetic resources in medium and long term conservation. Less utilization of local genetic resources conserved in genebank for crop improvement program is evident due to lack of information about the desirable accessions in the genebank resulting from the poor characterization and evaluation data. Great intra-specific diversity has been observed in finger millet. Proso millet has two popular types of landraces: Dudhe and Hade. Nepali genebank holds 51 accessions of proso millet, 55 accessions of foxtail millet, 15 accessions of sorghum, 2 accessions of barn yard millet, 1 accession of pearl millet and 3 accessions of kodo millet. Foxtail millet has higher intra-specific diversity than proso millet as studied by national genebank. Proso millet is grown mainly in Karnali region but cultivation of foxtail millet is found across High Hill of the country. However, sorghum, barn yard millet and pearl millet are grown in small areas and have less economic contribution to the country. In the context of climate change, millets are the crops of the future with great potentiality to cope with food insecurity not only within the country but also for the hungry world. Priority should be given on research and promotion of other millet species such as foxtail millet and proso millet for food and nutrition security of mountain region.<br><br>