PEARL MILLET SELECTION (<i>PENNISETUM GLAUCUM</i> (L.) <i>R.BR</i>) IN THE CENTRAL BLACK EARTH REGION OF RUSSIA
African millet selection (pearl millet) Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. It is carried out according to a similar scenario with other panicoidae crops in the direction of increasing panicle length, grain size, number of grains in a panicle, grain productivity and green mass. In the field, the method of manual castration and forced pollination is used with an average percentage of ovary equal to 50 ... 60% and a new method based on the characteristics of the flowering of this culture (geytonogamy and proterogyny), without manual castration and with forced pollination. As a result of many years of research, a gene pool of naked African millet was created. A wide variety and variation of characters was revealed: in height (the length of the longest stem with a panicle) from 0.5 to 3 meters, along the length of the inflorescence (panicle) - 5-25 cm, grain size 3-19 g, bushiness - 1-20. The length of the growing season (seedlings - ripening) ranged from 70 to 140 days. The maximum variation of characters was also observed in the shape of panicle and grain, in inflorescence density, length and density of bristles, the presence of anthocyanin on the stem, leaves and panicle, and the average variation in color of panicle, grain and endosperm consistency. According to the results of competitive variety testing among African millet for grain (seed) and green mass productivity, 6 phenotypically different high-yielding forms can be used as a promising selection material: Pt111 (conoidum), Pt 225 (conoidum), Pt248 (milo), Pt226 (fusoidum), Pt254 (cylindricum) and the Gurso variety that exceeded the Sogur standard by 12-57%. A new mid-ripening coarse-grained variety Gurso was transferred to the State variety test. Variety - conoidum. Knowledge of the relationship of the components of productivity with each other and with the seed crop is necessary for breeding. In central Russia, the yield of grain of African millet in 2017 and 2018 was positively related to the length of the growing season (r= +0,63 and r= +0,53), in 2017 and 2018 years - to the weight of 1000 seeds (r= +0,63 and r= +0,56). This indicates the contiguity of morphological indicators, which ultimately provide a certain direction of the selection process based on selection by grain size and grain content of inflorescences. In the process of studying breeding material, it was possible to combine and supplement the studies of various taxonomists, to develop a single intraspecific classification of African millet, which includes 5 subspecies and 25 varieties. Subspecies of African millet are identical to subspecies of common millet: spicatum - to compact, americanum - to compressed, typhoideum - to brznching, africanum - to spreading, bajra - to oval. The new classification involves the identification of varieties based on the key parameters of the panicle.