Palatability is the improvement direction of miscellaneous grain varieties

Buckwheat, millet, millet and other miscellaneous grains are ancient crops originated in China. There are many kinds of miscellaneous grains grown in China, including millet, sorghum, buckwheat, millet, oats, barley, Coix, broad bean, pea, kidney bean, lentil, chickpea, grass pea and so on.

Small miscellaneous grain has the advantages of short growth period, drought and barren resistance and wide adaptability. it is a regional characteristic crop in China. Because of its unique characteristics of drought resistance, cold resistance, waterlogging resistance, salt resistance and strong plasticity of growth period, it has become an important grain crop in the ecologically fragile areas of the central and western regions. Because of its rich nutritional function, it has become an indispensable crop for people's food diversification, and it is also a valuable health food resource in the 21st century.

Since the Neolithic Age, small miscellaneous grains have been an ancient crop for raising the sons and daughters of China. Nowadays, with the improvement of people's living standards, the staple food on the table is no longer satisfied with the pursuit of rice and white noodles, but more use small miscellaneous grains to enrich the staple food structure, pay more attention to nutrition while paying more attention to the diversity, health and safety of food. At present, the total amount of grain supply and demand in China is balanced, but the structural contradiction is becoming increasingly prominent. It is of great practical significance to develop small miscellaneous grains according to local conditions, study and integrate high-quality and high-yield cultivation techniques of small miscellaneous grains, realize the matching of improved varieties and methods, the combination of agricultural machinery and agronomy, and the combination of production and processing, so as to promote the development of small miscellaneous grain industry and enrich the diversity of grain varieties. it is of great practical significance to improve the national grain production capacity and realize the sustainable development of agriculture in the central and western regions.

Compared with staple grain crops, the cultivation of minor cereals is scattered, the topography of cultivated land is complex, the degree of mechanization is low, the production level is generally low, and the varieties are mixed and degraded, the excellent varieties are few and it is difficult to popularize, so the exertion of production potential is seriously restricted. According to statistics and surveys, the planting area of minor cereals in China accounts for about 5%-6% of the sown area of grain crops, and the total output accounts for less than 3%. The per unit yield of minor grain crops in China is generally low, with an average of less than 40% of staple grain crops, which is even more different from that of other countries with relatively high management levels.

Excellent resource mining and germplasm innovation are the basis of miscellaneous grain variety improvement. Tapping excellent genetic resources and innovating germplasm is the key to the breakthrough of miscellaneous grain varieties. At present, in miscellaneous grain breeding, such as buckwheat flavonoids, Coix sterols, legume protein, resistant starch and other bioactive substances, buckwheat, millet shattering, lodging and so on have not been well solved. Compared with staple crops, the research foundation of miscellaneous grain breeding is weak, the number of researchers is relatively small, and the research on the functional characteristics and special characters of miscellaneous grains is insufficient. Except for millet, sorghum and other crops, the variety research of other miscellaneous grains is still in the primary stage. In the past 30 years, more than 130 varieties of millet have been selected in China, of which only one variety is selected by cross breeding.

In recent years, with the support of the national science and technology support plan, the modern agricultural industrial technology system, and the national small miscellaneous grain variety regional test and other scientific research platforms, the state has established a miscellaneous grain variety identification committee and scientific research cooperation organization. the scientific research team of miscellaneous grains has been stabilized and the development of miscellaneous grain industry has been greatly promoted.

The varieties with good palatability, high quality and special use, which meet the market demand, are the direction of miscellaneous grain variety improvement. Although miscellaneous grains are rich in nutrition and rich in dietary fiber and bioactive substances, poor palatability is an important factor restricting the consumption of miscellaneous grains. Therefore, the breeding of miscellaneous grain varieties with high quality and special use, good palatability and meeting the requirements of processing is the direction of miscellaneous grain variety improvement. In recent years, Northwest University of Agriculture and Forestry Science and Technology has successively carried out studies on starch characteristics, protein characteristics and cooking and eating quality evaluation of millet, and organized millet breeding units and processing enterprises to carry out quality evaluation of millet breeding. recommend high-quality varieties with good palatability for production, and guide breeding units to carry out high-quality and special variety breeding, promoting the development of millet production and industry.

Varieties suitable for mechanized harvest, lodging resistance and light and simple cultivation are necessary conditions for the development of miscellaneous grain industry. Millet millet, which originated in China, is one of the ancient grains, and is also known as the feeding crop of the Chinese nation. it is rich in nutrition, drought and barren tolerance, storage and grain feeding, but for a long time, relying on artificial seedling and weeding is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the production efficiency is low, so it is difficult to produce on a large scale. Therefore, the main way to deal with the transformation of current agricultural production and management mode is to study and integrate light, simple and efficient cultivation techniques, select special varieties for herbicide resistance, and develop matching agricultural machinery agronomic production technology.

Feng Baili

(the writer is a post scientist in the technical system of national millet industry)