Progresses in Stress Tolerance and Field Cultivation Studies of Orphan Cereals in China

Small cereal crops, including foxtail millet (Setaria italica), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), are important in northern China’s arid and semi-arid dry land agriculture, which are main components for a diversified food system and considered as traditional healthy food. Because they are mainly cultivated in dry land and salinity soils, natural and human selection had made those crops with super capability for drought and salt tolerant. This issue of Scientia Agricultura Sinica published 20 papers focus on drought tolerance, salinity tolerance, disease resistance and cultivation of those orphan crops in China. Nearly all these papers were conducted by the scientific researcher of the Chinese Agricultural Research System, Millet and Sorghum Section. This is a brief introduction of these 20 papers, and some comparisons between conclusions of those researches with the known published ones are also included. Foxtail millet, sorghum and broomcorn millet are considered as models for drought and salinity study in the grasses family, the papers published here will push the progress of this system.