ICRISAT adds finger millet as its sixth mandate crop

City-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) today said finger millet, which figured among the six small millets in research portfolio of the institute, has been formally made its mandate crop.
This is an important recognition for a crop which has been an integral part of ICRISAT's research portfolio, a release from ICRISAT said.
"Finger millet has always been within our mandate crops but we want to provide greater visibility to this nutri-cereal that offers so much to both smallholders and consumers," ICRISAT Director General David Bergvinson said.
The ICRISAT gene bank holds nearly 6,000 finger millet germplasm accessions from 24 countries, conserved for use in research and development.

Among the ICRISAT projects that focus on finger millet, the Harnessing Opportunities for Productivity Enhancement (HOPE) project of sorghum and millets in Sub- Saharan Africa and South Asia funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is showing encouraging results in improving productivity of finger millet and household incomes in East Africa, it said.
"This was achieved by enabling farmers to adopt improved varieties and associated agronomic practices and linking producers to both input and product markets," it said.

At a recent field day in Kenya, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation and ICRISAT displayed six elite varieties of finger millet for participatory varietal selection by farmers.

Through a multi-institutional collaboration, ICRISAT scientists in East and Southern African region have generated a whole genome sequence of finger millet. This opens a new chapter in future breeding of this nutritious crop, the release said.
In Karnataka, finger millet is among 'climate smart' crops that figures high on the agenda of the government.
Along with its partners, ICRISAT is targeting commercial production of finger millet, diversification of household- level diets, value addition and processing for food, feed and industry.