Status of Global Pearl Millet Breeding Programs and the Way Forward

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is a warm-season, C4 annual cereal primarily grown in Africa and India for food and fodder. It is also grown in the United States, mainly as a forage crop on a limited area. It is the sixth most important cereal crop in the world. More than 90 million people around the world rely on it as a food grain. It is known for its drought and heat tolerance to reliably produce crops in arid environments. This review is meant to assess the current status of pearl millet breeding and its future prospects globally, with major emphasis on breeding efforts in the United States and India. The topics discussed relate to improvements in plant stature, maturity, photoperiod insensitivity, discovery of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS), and transfer of apomixis from wild relatives. These improvements have led to increased grain and forage yields, nutritional quality, and enhanced disease resistance. Hybrids developed using CMS reportedly have an average of 50% higher grain yield than open-pollinated cultivars. We discuss important genetic and breeding achievements in pearl millet for different traits and their implications for further improvement as a potential crop. Additional research is needed to enhance its productivity, early stand establishment, drought tolerance, and nutritional quality for growing it as a grain crop in moisture-limited areas. The application of advanced genomics and marker-assisted selection tools is needed to accelerate pearl millet breeding and accomplish targeted breeding goals.