Development of pearl millet for health benefits for type-2 diabetes – feasibility study of physicochemical properties and genetic enhancement

Pearl millet is a drought hardy and sustainable cereal with superior glycaemic control over wheat and rice. The number of (type 2) mainly non-insulin dependent diabetics in India is currently estimated at 40 million and rising while in the UK it is estimated that 5 million people will have diabetes by 2025. This project will explore variations in pearl millet to understand how this sustainable crop can be developed further to ultimately produce improved bread products for glycaemic control. Such variations will then be deployed in future breeding programmes to develop pearl millet cultivars that will be optimised for both agricultural sustainablity and glycaemic control. These lines will be made available as both improved food crops for direct growth and consumption by smallholder farmers and also as a valuable raw material for bread products.