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Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, S.V. Agricultural College, ANGRAU, Tirupati-517 502.
Micronutrient deficiency is a common cause of most of the human diseases. Little millet is an important climate-resilient crop and a rich source of micronutrients, particularly iron and zinc, thus can be helpful to combat iron and zinc malnutrition. Little millet has many health-promoting factors. Identifying and selecting nutrient-rich genotypes within populations is vital for improving the crop’s nutritional value. This process involves evaluating and screening various genotypes for their nutrient content, such as protein quality and mineral composition. In this field experiment, 40 genotypes were evaluated in 3 replications in randomized block design. Maximum iron content was observed for the genotype, CLMV-1 (9.85mg) and PPS 164 (9.85mg) whereas the minimum was observed in PPS145 (6.23mg) with general mean of 7.23mg. The genotypes PPS 99 (8.76mg), PPS 165 (8.23mg), PPS 179 (8.21mg), PPS 118 (7.87mg), PPS 147 (7.78mg) and PPS 126 (7.77mg), recorded significantly higher iron content per 100g of grain. Maximum zinc content was observed for the genotype CLMV-1 (4.08mg) whereas the minimum was observed in PPS156 (1.87mg) with general mean of 2.84mg. The genotypes PPS 164 (3.88 mg), PPS 180 (3.78mg), PPS 113 (3.77mg), PPS 149 (3.56mg), PPS 163 (3.45mg), PPS 147(3.44mg), PPS 109 (3.42mg), PPS 179 (3.26mg) recorded significantly higher zinc content per 100g of grain.
KEYWORDS: Little millet, micronutrients, iron content, zinc content and nutrient rich genotypes.