Abstract:

Frequent occurrence of extreme climate adversely affected agricultural production. As foxtail millet had high nutritional value and strong stress resistance, it had played an important role in improving people's dietary structure and ensuring food security. The increasingly severe climate environment had affected the yield and quality formation of foxtail millet seriously. Therefore, it's of importance to strength the research on abiotic stress resistance of foxtail millet. Based on the research progress of domestic and foreign scholars on high temperature, low temperature, drought, salt and alkali of foxtail millet, this paper reviewed the mechanisms on the effects of abiotic stress on the yield and quality formation of foxtail millet, the cultivation techniques and the application of chemical products in the regulation of millet in northern China, and prospected the future in this field. The results showed that high temperature stress affected the translocation and distribution of assimilates and grain formation of foxtail millet, resulting in the decrease of seed setting rate and grain weight. With the extension of high temperature time, the taste and appearance quality of foxtail millet became worse. Low temperature often occured at the seedling stage of foxtail millet, which could cause a large area of rotten seeds and buds, which seriously affected the yield formation. Moderate drought could improve the cooking and processing quality of foxtail millet, but higher degree drought might inhibit the normal growth and development of foxtail millet. Under the saline−alkali environment, the growth of foxtail millet roots and shoots, the accumulation of dry matter decreased, the yield and the processing quality decreased. In conclusion, abiotic stress can inhibit the growth and development of foxtail millet, reduce the efficiency of photosynthesis and limit the absorption of nutrients. These stresses can cause water loss, cell metabolic disorder and physiological dysfunction, and affect the formation of millet yield and quality ultimately. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on research of the influence mechanism of abiotic stress such as high temperature and drought on the growth and development characteristics, yield and quality formation of foxtail millet, mechanisms and explore how to achieve stable and high yield under adverse meteorological environment through breeding technology and cultivation management measures in the future, so as to provide theoretical basis for the research on abiotic stress resistance mechanism and production application for foxtail millet and other crops.

Key words: Foxtail millet, Abiotic stress, Yield, Quality, Control technology