Finger Millet: A “Certain” Crop for an “Uncertain” Future and a Solution to Food Insecurity and Hidden Hunger under Stressful Environments

Abstract

Crop growth and productivity has largely been vulnerable to various abiotic and biotic stresses that are only set to be compounded due to global climate change. Therefore developing improved varieties and designing newer approaches for crop improvement against stress tolerance have become a priority now-a-days. However, most of the crop improvement strategies are directed toward staple cereals such as rice, wheat, maize etc., whereas attention on minor cereals such as finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.] lags far behind. It is an important staple in several semi-arid and tropical regions of the world with excellent nutraceutical properties as well as ensuring food security in these areas even during harsh environment. This review highlights the importance of finger millet as a model nutraceutical crop. Progress and prospects in genetic manipulation for the development of abiotic and biotic stress tolerant varieties is also discussed. Although limited studies have been conducted for genetic improvement of finger millets, its nutritional significance in providing minerals, calories and protein makes it an ideal model for nutrition-agriculture research. Therefore, improved genetic manipulation of finger millets for resistance to both abiotic and biotic stresses, as well as for enhancing nutrient content will be very effective in millet improvement.Key message: Apart from the excellent nutraceutical value of finger millet, its ability to tolerate various abiotic stresses and resist pathogens make it an excellent model for exploring vast genetic and genomic potential of this crop, which provide us a wide choice for developing strategies for making climate resilient staple crops.

Finger Millet in Tribal Farming Systems Contributes to Increased Availability of Nutritious Food at Household Level: Insights from India

“…The crop has gained focus of scientific research for their extraordinary potential to grow under high temperature, low moisture and poor soils [15]. It is no more called a coarse cereal rather referred to as a nutricereal or as a nutraceutical crop and is seen as a potential solution for addressing malnutrition and hidden hunger worldwide [7].…”

Thresholds, sensitive stages and genetic variability of finger millet to high temperature stress

“…Finger millet [ Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.] is an important small millet cultivated in arid and semi‐arid regions of the world for food and nutritional security at minimal cost compared with major cereals (Gupta et al., ; Satish, Ceasar, & Ramesh, ). Finger millet occupies ∼12% of the global millet area, and the major producers are Uganda, India, Nepal and China.…”

Effect of malting period on physicochemical properties, minerals, and phytic acid of finger millet (Eleusine coracana) flour varieties

“…It has a distinct advantage of being a drought and pest resistant crop, requires little irrigation and other input, and yet sustain optimal yield. Finger millet has been perceived as a potential “super grain” by the United States National Academies as one of the most nutritious among all major cereal grains (Gupta et al., ; Kumar et al., ; Radchuk et al., ; Reddy et al., ). However, finger millet is underutilized even in areas of production due to minimal inclusion in ready‐to‐use or ready‐to‐eat convenience food products, unawareness by the general population, lack of research, and novel product development processes (Kumar et al., ; Radchuk et al., ; Shahidi & Chandrasekara, ).…”