ScienceDaily (Apr. 21, 2005) — Seeds of finger millet, a staple grain in parts of Africa and India, are now being preserved and studied by Agricultural Research Service scientists as part of the continuing effort to maintain genetic diversity in agricultural crops.

ARS agronomist Melanie Newman, the curator for finger millet and other warm-season cereal, forage and turf grasses, maintains a wide variety of species in the agency's collection. The ARS Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit in Griffin, Ga., houses the finger millet collection, along with over 83,400 samples of other agricultural crops.

According to Newman, it's crucial to agriculture to maintain a collection with key genetic traits. She and plant geneticist Ming Li Wang are busy genetically fingerprinting the germplasm in the collection to provide researchers with a set of genetic markers needed to evaluate germplasm and identify various traits. Yield and resistance to a fungal disease called blast are important for growing finger millet as a food crop.

Maintaining the collection is vital to future research on finger millet. Researchers have to retain an adequate amount of seed from each sample, or accession. The seeds stored at the Griffin facility are germinated in specialized chambers, grown in pots in the greenhouse and finally placed in the field. The seeds from these plants are then preserved for future use.

Newman also receives requests for finger millet for nutritional studies to increase its utility as a food staple in developing countries.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by USDA/Agricultural Research Service.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Agronomist Melanie Newman sorts through newly harvested seeds to remove broken ones and other trash before the seeds are put into long-term storage. (Photo by Rob Dean)

Related Stories

Calculating Agriculture's Phosphorus Footprint (Apr. 13, 2010) — Balancing phosphorus levels in crop lands is a key factor that is often overlooked in discussions of global food security, according to a new ...  > read more

Satellite Data Can Warn Of Famine, NASA Researchers Find (July 19, 2007) — Scientists have developed a new method to anticipate food shortages brought on by drought. They created a model using data from satellite remote sensing of crop growth and food prices. Supply and ...  > read more

Grain Crops With Lower Carotene Levels Are Less Affected by Parasitic Plants (Jan. 16, 2012) — Grain crops that produce less carotene can produce more food, especially in Africa, as they are less affected by parasitic plants. Agricultural researchers studied processes and technologies that ...  > read more

New Device Detects Insects in Stored Wheat (Nov. 17, 2010) — A laboratory milling device for improving stored grain management has been developed by agricultural scientists. The system, called the "insect-o-graph," can detect internal insects in wheat that are ...  > read more

Search ScienceDaily