Abscisic acid induced seed dormancy and climate resilience in fox tail millet (Setaria italica L.) genotypes

Abstract

A laboratory experiment was conducted at Department of Seed Science and Technology, UAS Raichur to estimate ABA content in foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) using Phytodetek ABA Test Kit. ABA estimation in millets is helpful to trace out the reason behind the dormancy in millets and is less explored. Nine genotypes were studied in the present investigation. Among the foxtail millet genotypes, the highest dormancy duration of 35 days was observed in two genotypes viz., DHFt-4-5 and DHFt-5-3 and slight dormancy was noticed in the genotype DHFt- 35-1. The genotype DHFt-35-1 recorded lowest ABA concentration of 3.199 pmol/g f. w. followed by genotypes DHFt-2-5 and DHFt-2-5-1 (3.266 and 3.291 pmol/g f. w. respectively). Highest ABA concentration was found in DHFt-5-3 (3.404 pmol/g f. w.) followed by DHFt-4-5 (3.396 pmol/g f. w.). Thus it was concluded that ABA in millet seeds makes them ‘climate smart crops’ and during the climate change regime, it is only millets that can ensure India’s food and nutrition needs in future.