Friday, November 5, 2010

Indigenous crops: Understanding millet.

Definition:
Millet refers to a group of annual grasses mainly found in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Millet belongs to 5 genera: Penissetum, Eleusine, Setaria, Panicum & Paspalum.These grasses produces small seeded grains and are often cultivated as cereals. Millets can be used as grain or forage. When used as grain they are categorized as cereals.

Origin and history of millet
Origin of millet is diverse with varieties coming from both Africa & Asia. Pearl millet comes from Tropical West Africa, Finger millet from Uganda. There are about 6,000 varieties of millet throughout the world with grains varying in colour from pale yellow, to grey, white, and red.

Land requirements and planting
The crop requires at least a firm and fine seedbed. The seed can be planted by broadcasting or by drilling directly into the soil. After broadcasting, the seed is lightly covered with the soil using twigs pulled over the field or by passing a herd of animals through the field. This is common mainly in African communities where millets are planted by broadcasting. Re-sowing is done if prolong dryspell occur. In developed countries, Finger millet is normally planted by drilling the seed in rows. In some countries where irrigation is practiced, the seed is planted in nurseries and the seedlings are later transplanted to the field 3-4 weeks after planting. Thinning should be done when the plants are 2.5 to 5cm high.

Spacing and seed rate
The spacing varies depending on the availability of soil moisture and amount of organic matter in the soil. When planted in drills, the seed is drilled in rows of 7.5 to 25 cm between rows and 2.5 cm deep. The seed rates range from 5-10kg/ha. Where broadcasting is done, a lot of seed is needed and seed rate can go up to 20kg/ha.

Soil
The crop does well in a variety of soils but prefers well-drained and fertile sandy loams. Finger millet, unlike pearl millet, does poorly on infertile soils and cannot tolerate water logging. In East and central Africa, the crop prefers new virgin land or bush fallow.

Fertilizer application
The crop responds to NPK fertilizer application. A soil fertilizer test is recommended to establish the correct amount of nutrients to be added. In traditional cropping systems, fields are commonly cleared by bush burning which leaves some amounts of potassium for the millet crop. This is common especially where shifting cultivation is still being practiced. Manure application significantly improves finger millet yields and is recommended where animals manure is readily available. Manure should be applied when it’s properly decomposed otherwise manure that is not decomposed is toxic and can cause burning of plants.

Weeding
It should be done as early as possible since finger millet dose not tolerate competition from weeds during early stages of growth. Weeding is a labor-intensive operation and three to four weeding are required. Weeding is controlled using a hand hoe or by hand pulling. Drilling seed is becoming popular partly because it makes weeding easy.

Maturity period
These vary depending on the hybrid and climate conditions.

Harvesting
Done as crop matures it can be repeated 2-3 times before the whole crop field is completed. Cutting the heads from standing plants using knives does harvesting.

Fungal diseases
The major disease affecting millet production is blast caused by pyricularia grisea, which causes lesions and premature drying of young leaves. Other diseases include heliminthosporium diseases, which causes leafs pot, seedling blight, and head blight in finger millet

Control:
1.use of resistant and high yielding varieties
2.spraying with copper-based fungicides
3.uprooting and burning infected plants.

Pests
The most important pests include grasshoppers, armyworms and ladybird. Birds can also cause damage on finger millet when the crop is ready for harvesting

Labour constraints
Finger millet requires a lot of labour especially for controlling weeds in broadcasted millet. Row planting has often been advocated as a means of reducing the labour constraint. Therefore, row planting has been shown to require only 46% of the total labor force required under broadcasting hence achieving food security and alleviating poverty.

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