Research Projects

India faces a significant fodder shortage, with 31% of green fodder and 12% of dry fodder lacking. The average cow milk yield is 52% lower than the world average. Pearl millet, a popular fodder crop, is cultivated in arid and semi-arid regions. Forage digestibility is crucial for livestock productivity and bioethanol production. Brown midrib (bmr) lines with reduced lignin content can improve forage digestibility. Three brown midrib mutants have been reported in pearl millet, but their genes are uncharacterized. This study aims to map and identify genomic regions associated with bmr loci in a recombinant inbred line population (RIL1) and validate these loci in another RIL population (RIL2). The validated markers can be used to transfer bmr loci into modern varieties using MABB technology, resulting in higher forage digestibility.