VARIATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOXTAIL MILLET (SETARIA-ITALICA P BEAUV) IN THE MOUNTAINOUS AREAS OF NORTHERN PAKISTAN

The characteristics of landraces of foxtail millet (Setaria italica P. Beauv.) collected in the mountainous areas of northern Pakistan were compared with Eurasian strains. Seventy-one strains from northern Pakistan were divided into three groups, the Chitral group, the Baltistan group and the Dir group according to the combination of characters. The Chitral group was characterized by early heading and very short plant height. It had a large number of tillers and short conical panicles with long bristles similar to those of green foxtail (S. viridis P. Beauv.), the probable ancestor of foxtail millet. The Baltistan group was distinguished blv early heading, short plant height and a non-tillering habit that had only one conical panicle with short bristles. The Dir group was intermediate to late heading and tall plant height. It had a large number of tillers with long-conical panicles. Orange colored anther and elliptic grain with lucid lemma and palea were observed in the Chitral group acid the Dir group. The Baltistan group had white anther and round shaped non-lucid grain. Strains with a negative phenol color reaction were frequently found in the Chitral group and the Baltistan group. Of six strains of the Dir group examined, two showed a positive reaction but three showed a negative one. The Chitral group contained three strains with shattering habit. The distribution areas of these three groups were clearly isolated from each other. Also, these three groups had three different local names obtained by field information. This tells us that farmers of these areas maintain not only their specific landraces but also the names by which they are called. Comparing Eurasian strains with those grown in Kyoto, the distinctive characters of the Chitral group, the Baltistan group and the Dir group were similar to the strains of different regions of Eurasia. It is pointed out that these three groups of foxtail millet grown in the mountainous areas of northern Pakistan are phylogenetically distinct.