Proso millet in the inland Pacific NW - new research & need for more
Here is a recent technical article on the potential for proso millet in the inland Pacific Northwest, which begins with a general observation worthy of broader consideration: US cultivars for this millet "have been developed for the Great Plains and little research has been conducted outside of this region." Tayler Reinman, Jessica Braden, Nathan Daniel Miller, and Kevin M. Murphy, "Mineral, seed morphology, and agronomic characteristics of proso millet grown in the inland Pacific Northwest," Frontiers in Nutrition, Vol. 11, Sep. 2024 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.13... The article explores factors to consider in performance of existing proso varieties in the inland PNW, and development of new varieties. One of those is mineral concentration in the grains, which "has been historically overlooked by plant breeders." The amount of resources that go into research on proso millet - or any of the millets - is relatively small compared to the major cereals. Using these limited resources to focus on needs and potential in the main proso growing region of the Great Plains has obvious value. However, underinvestment in breeding cultivars optimal for agroecologies of other regions, such as the inland PNW, also has a cost. The topic of proso (and other millets) in the inland PNW is not new. On this list, there was a thread about it in January 2023 entitled "Millets in the Pacific NW!" https://lists.millets2023.space/pipermail/collab/2023-January/000118.html Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance - co-founder
Thanks Don! On Sun, Sep 29, 2024 at 6:12 AM Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org> wrote:
Here is a recent technical article on the potential for proso millet in the inland Pacific Northwest, which begins with a general observation worthy of broader consideration: US cultivars for this millet "have been developed for the Great Plains and little research has been conducted outside of this region."
Tayler Reinman, Jessica Braden, Nathan Daniel Miller, and Kevin M. Murphy, "Mineral, seed morphology, and agronomic characteristics of proso millet grown in the inland Pacific Northwest," Frontiers in Nutrition, Vol. 11, Sep. 2024
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.13...
The article explores factors to consider in performance of existing proso varieties in the inland PNW, and development of new varieties. One of those is mineral concentration in the grains, which "has been historically overlooked by plant breeders."
The amount of resources that go into research on proso millet - or any of the millets - is relatively small compared to the major cereals. Using these limited resources to focus on needs and potential in the main proso growing region of the Great Plains has obvious value. However, underinvestment in breeding cultivars optimal for agroecologies of other regions, such as the inland PNW, also has a cost.
The topic of proso (and other millets) in the inland PNW is not new. On this list, there was a thread about it in January 2023 entitled "Millets in the Pacific NW!" https://lists.millets2023.space/pipermail/collab/2023-January/000118.html
Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance - co-founder
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participants (2)
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Don Osborn -
Joni Kindwall-Moore