Proso millet national variety TNAU 202

A superior Proso millet culture, TNAU 202, was bred at the Department of Millets, CPBG, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore and tested throughout the country for three years (2008 to 2010). Being a profusely tillering, short duration (73 days) culture with better culm strength, it is best suited for the drylands of India. It is a derivative of the cross involving PV 1453 x GPUP 16. It yields on average, 1872 kg/ha of grain and 3700 kg/ha of straw during kharif season. The panicle is loose and branched with more number of grains. The grains are medium bold with desirable grain and cooking qualities. Since it is a short duration crop, it is very well suited for contingency planting. It recorded an increased grain yield of 26.23 and 15.06 per cent over qualifying varieties TNAU 196 and TNAU 201, respectively in All India Coordinated Trials. It recorded 19.16 per cent increased yield over the check TNAU 145, 15.34 per cent over TNAU 151, 31.09 per cent over GPUP 21 and 7.10 per cent as compared to the K1. Hence, TNAU 202 was released for cultivation in different states of the country in the year 2011.