Genotype x environment interactions in food-feed traits in pearl millet cultivars

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] stover provides a crucial fodder resource for ruminant animals in small-holder crop-livestock systems in most of the arid and semi-arid zones of the Indian subcontinent (Kelley and Rao 1996). This is especially the case where (1) the dry season is too long (≥6 months) for native pasture resources to maintain animals until the next rainy season; and/or (2) increased population density has drastically reduced the area of fallow/common property land which traditionally provided dry-season grazing. One of the most effective and least-cost options open to farmers to increase both stover productivity and quality is the choice of cultivar, provided that there are significant and stable across-environment differences among cultivars for both productivity and quality, and that emphasizing these does not carry an unacceptable penalty in terms of reduction in grain yield. The present work investigates these relationships for 30 cultivars grown for two consecutive years at three contrasting locations in India