'GV-5' (Mauli): Early Maturing Little Millet (Panicum sumatrense L.) Variety for Cultivation in Gujarat, India

The little millet variety ‘GV-5’ (Mauli) is a pure line selection from the local germplasm collected from Mahal village of Ahwa taluka, Dang District. A little millet variety ‘GV-5’ was tested as a genotype name ‘WV-297’. The genotype 'WV 297' tested under the various state trials found to be superior for grain yield in terms of per day productivity (1748 kg/ha) by 12.78 % over existing local check GV-4 and 31.35 and 31.20 % over national checks i.e. JK-8 and OLM-203, respectively over eleven trials and four years (2020-21 to 2023-24) of study. The genotype matures in 90-100 days includes under early maturing variety. Moreover, the proposed genotype has bold seed size i.e. 2.22 g 1000-seed weight. The genotype WV-297 has 5.9 average productive tillers per plant and 34.5 cm average panicle length. This genotype has special attributes of non-lodging and non-shattering growth habit. The genotype WV-297 is rich in protein (7.82 g/100g), crude fiber (8.36 %), calcium (18.4 mg/100g), iron (3.76mg/100g), Zn content (3.88 mg/100g) and carbohydrates (70.33 g/100g). This genotype is resistant to diseases like leaf blast, neck blast and grain smut and also reported resistant reaction against shoot fly. Considering above important features a little millet variety ‘GV-5’ (Gujarat Vari-5/Mauli) released as a new variety for cultivation during kharif under rainfed conditions of Gujarat state.