Research projects - millets and sorghum

Last changed: 17 January 2023

Millets have served as a traditional staple for hundreds of millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia for 7 000 years, and are now cultivated across the world. However, their cultivation is declining in many countries, and their potential to address climate change and food security is not being realised in full. Here we present some examples of SLU research about millets, and also sorghum.

Finger millet and sorghum interaction to microbiome of their wild relatives for sustainable food production in Ethiopia.
SLU researchers together with researchers at Uppsala University, Södertörn University, Waterloo University in Canada, the Institute of Evolution in Israel, and Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia
The aim of the project is to study the possibilities to promote sustainable food production in low-income countries under the climate change.
Contact: Salme Timmusk, Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, SLU salme.timmusk@slu.se

Complementary porridge with high nutritional quality for children in Mozambique
This project is an attempt to formulate complementary porridge with high nutritional quality based on pearl millet and cow pea for children under 5 years in Mozambique. Flour with better functional properties will be helpful in improving the nutritional profile of the cooked porridge and can be used as a weaning food for dealing with malnutrition problems among children.
Contact: Sunera Zulficar Nurmomade Department of Molecular Sciences sunera.zulficar.nurmomade@slu.se

Increased nutritional content through plant breeding of pearl millet - a contribution to improved health and food security for vulnerable people in Western Sudan
Contact: Elaine B. Ceresino, Department of Plant Breeding, SLU elaine.ceresino@slu.se

Breeding-Biostimulant: an innovative approach for enhanced drought tolerance of the climate-resilient Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in Uganda and Zambia
Contact: Kibrom Abreha Avel, Department of Plant Breeding, SLU kibrom.abreha@slu.se

Reviving indigenous food systems for food security – key to improving and feeding nutritious food for human health
Contact: Mahbubjon Rahmatov Department of Plant Breeding, SLU makhbubdzhon.rahmatov@slu.se

Integrating plant genomics with conventional breeding to enhance the quality and productivity of finger millet, noug, sorghum and durum wheat - major food crops in Ethiopia. Developing plant breeding resources and capacity building in Ethiopia. A collaboration between Addis Ababa University and SLU, financed by SIDA
Contact: Cecilia Hammenhag, Department of Plant Breeding, SLU
cecilia.hammenhag@slu.se

Development of drought-tolerant sorghum. Researchers from SLU, together with Addis Ababa University and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, have identified new sources of germplasm that can be used to breed drought-tolerant sorghum.
Contact: Anders S. Carlsson anders.carlsson@slu.se and Rodomiro Octavio Ortiz rodomiro.ortiz@slu.se, Department of Plant Breeding, SLU