Introduction
Finger millet is also known as African millet, koracan, ragi (India). It is an important staple food in parts of eastern and central Africa and India. Finger millet is an important cereal in Karnataka. It is extensively grown in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Gujrat and Maharashtra and in the hilly regions of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, with a total area of 2.5 million hectares and 2.2 million tonnes of production.
The height of cultivars varies from 40 cm to 1 m, and the spike length ranges from 3 to 13 cm. The color of grains may vary from white through orange-red deep brown and purple, to almost black. The grains are smaller than those of pearl millet, and the mean I 000-seed weight is about 2.6 g.
Scientific Name- Eleusine Coracana
Varieties of Finger millet
INR 1008, TANU-9 promising varieties collected from BHU, Banaras and local varieties.
Plant type
Erect, medium tall and significantly higher yielder than local variety
Duration
80 – 90 days.
Grain yield
18-20 q/ha (transplanted)
Other Characters
Average length of fingers/panicle 6-7 cm
Soil Type
Sandy loam
Time of sowing of Finger millet
One-month-old seedlings are to be transplanted in the 1st week of September.
Seedbed
For seed sowing a raised (10 – 25 cm) seed bed of size 10 × 1.25m with 30 cm gap between the beds should be prepared; 20-30 kg cow dung/bed should be applied and mixed thoroughly with the soil. 150g of seeds should be sown per bed.
Seed rate
12 kg is transplanting one hectare.
Spacing
25 cm × 15 cm.
Manures and Fertilizers used in finger millet cultivation
Apply FYM/Compost @ 5t/ha or 6q/bigha.
| Nutrient | Requirement | Form | Fertilizer requirement | |
| (kg/ha) | ||||
| kg/ha | kg/bigha | |||
| N | 40 | Urea | 88 | 12.00 |
| P2O5 | 20 | SSP | 125 | 16.50 |
| K2O | 20 | MOP | 32 | 4.25 |
Half of N and full doses of FYM, P2O 5 and K2O should be applied as basal and the remaining half of N to be top dressed 30 days after transplanting.
Interculture
First weeding at 20-25 days after transplanting and subsequent weeding as and when necessary.
Plant Protection
There is no major pest and disease in the marua crop. However, tricycle azole/ediphenphos/carbendazim @ 0 . 1 percent significantly controls blast disease which occurs sometimes.
Harvesting of Finger millet
Harvesting should be done when 75-80% of the panicles turn yellowish.
Use
It is used as a substitute for rice by the farmers. It is also used for making porridge, sattu, akhoi and preparation of flour and beverage.
Source-
- Assam Agriculture University.
- IndiaAgroNet.com
