Everything you need to know about pearl millet (bajra) cultivation in India. Learn about:- 1. Introduction to Pearl Millet 2. Climate and Soil Required for Pearl Millet Cultivation 3. Ecological Zones 4. Field Preparation 5. Sowing Time 6. Manures and Fertilizers 7. Water Management 8. Moisture Conservation 9. Thinning/Gap-Filling and Jerking 10. Weed Management 11. Cropping System and Few Others.
Contents:
- Introduction to Pearl Millet
- Climate and Soil Required for Pearl Millet Cultivation
- Ecological Zones of Pearl Millet
- Field Preparation for Pearl Millet Cultivation
- Sowing Time of Pearl Millet
- Manures and Fertilizers Required for Pearl Millet Cultivation
- Water Management of Pearl Millet
- Moisture Conservation Management of Pearl Millet
- Thinning/Gap-Filling and Jerking of Pearl Millet
- Weed Management of Pearl Millet
- Cropping System of Pearl Millet
- Drought mitigation and Contingency Planning for Pearl Millet
- Harvesting and Threshing of Pearl Millet
- Yield and Storage of Pearl Millet
- Varieties of Pearl Millet
1. Introduction to Pearl Millet:
Pearl millet, in addition to its grain consumption, is also used as a green fodder in India and in many other countries. It forms an excellent forage crop because of comparatively low hydrocyanic acid (HCN) content. The green fodder is rich in protein, calcium, phosphorus and other minerals. Its fodder when fed green to the animals has easy digestibility than the chaffed straw.
It is also used as feed for poultry and green fodder or dry karvi for cattle. Much of pearl millet’s success in surviving through the ages has been its ability to produce well in hot, arid, drought prone areas where most crops fail. This adaptation reflects pearl millets origin in the Sahel-region of Africa, where growing conditions are difficult. Pearl millet is dubbed as a “Diamond in the Rough” because of its adaptation to very low rainfall areas.
Pearl millet is considered more efficient in utilization of soil moisture than sorghum and maize. Pearl millet is hardy and can grow in very hot and dry areas and on soils too poor for sorghum. In general, pearl millet fits in the same areas of adaptation as sorghum, except that it is somewhat more drought tolerant and matures early.
2. Climate and Soil Required for Pearl Millet Cultivation:
Pearl millet is an annual, rapidly growing warm-weather crop suitable for growing in rainfed regions where the annual rainfall is between 40-65 cm. Deeper root system, efficient photosynthetic mechanism and rapid transfer of food material (photosynthates) from leaves to the grains have made this plant to withstand, acute drought situations in rainfed areas.
Crop is characterized by the drought evading mechanism. It means this is the plant which never resists to drought but cut short of its life cycle and comes to flowering under such adverse conditions. It has a high degree of resistance for drought conditions.
During the vegetative growth of the crop, moist weather and light to medium rainfall is useful. But at the time of flowering and grain development stages, the weather should be clear and dry. It cannot tolerate waterlogging.
The rainfall at flowering time is harmful as it washes off the pollen and consequently there is poor seed setting. High rainfall at reproductive phase is not conducive, as it aids in spread of fungal diseases especially ergot, lodging of plants and poor grain quality. The crop does best under conditions of light showers followed by bright sunshine.
Usually pearl millet is grown in those areas where it is not possible to grow sorghum because of high temperature and low rainfall. It is susceptible to frost damage and is predominantly grown as a rainfed kharif crop. However, its summer cultivation is also popular in the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Pearl millet has the potential to germinate over wide range of temperatures from 15° to 40°C.The optimum temperature for full vegetative growth and development is 28-32°C. High temperatures at this stages induces early flowering and thus poor grain setting, while low temperatures coupled with high humidity at the time of flowering increases the incidence of ergot disease which reduces the grain yield and causes poisoning in humans and animals.
Moreover, low temperature during grain development increase the grain filling period and grain yield. Pearl millet is sensitive to photoperiod. Photoperiodism refers to the response of plants to definite periods of light and darkness. Long photoperiods over 14 hrs can double the grain yield compared to 12 hrs. The varieties grown in India are relatively less photosensitive and suitable for cultivation throughout the year.
Pearl millet can be grown on a variety of soils successfully, but sandy loam to loamy soils, which are well drained and non-saline in nature, are most suitable. Crop does not tolerate soil acidity, but perform better on slightly alkaline soils. The soil should be deep and free from stones and concretes. In central and peninsular India, it is grown on black cotton soils (vertisols) and red and laterite soils (ultisols) of India. It can give fairly good yield on poor soils where other crops cannot be grown successfully.
3. Ecological Zones of Pearl Millet:
India has been divided into the following ecological zones of pearl millet:
Ecological Zone I – Adequate to abundant rainfall and fertile soils (Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and adjoining Madhya Pradesh).
Ecological Zone II – Low rains, but heavy to light loamy soils (Gujarat, MS and M.P.).
Ecological Zone III – Low rainfall and light soils (Karnataka, A. P. and Rajasthan).
Ecological Zone IV – Limited but well-distributed rainfall (T. N., coastal A. P.).
4. Field Preparation for Pearl Millet Cultivation:
Pearl millet seeds, being smaller in size, have little food to support the germinating seedling, therefore a fine and firm seedbed is required for the root system to penetrate the soil quickly. In rainfed areas, the tillage operations before and after seeding the crop are extremely important as they are associated with the conservation of rain water.
In such situation, summer ploughing every year and deep ploughing once in every 3-4 years is beneficial. Fine and smooth tilth is required better germination and optimum plant stand of pearl millet, as its seeds are smaller in size.
The field is prepared by summer ploughing with mould board plough after the onset of monsoon followed by 2-3 harrowings or ploughing by country plough. The deep ploughed soil is capable of retaining soil moisture throughing the growing season and delivering more nitrate, phosphate and potassium besides increasing the water infiltation rate and reducing the bulk density of the soil.
Ploughing commences with first shower of rains after the harvest of the preceding crop. In the Deccan black cotton soils, a blade harrow is used to expedite preparation of fields. This is worked lengthwise and crosswise to keep down weeds and obtain good tilth. A compact or cloddy seedbed is unsuitable for seed germination.
Thus, clods must be broken by planking the field after every ploughing so that fine tilth may be obtained to facilitate the sowing and proper distribution of seed at an appropriate depth. Adequate moisture in the seed bed at the time of sowing is conducive to good and quick germination. Organic material such as rice-husk or farm yard manure @25 t/ha if incorporated to a depth of 20-45 cm, 8 weeks before sowing improved the water-holding capacity of the soil and thereby the yield of pearl millet.
5. Sowing Time of Pearl Millet:
Pearl millet is mainly grown as a rainfed crop during the monsoon (kharif) season. A very small percentage of the area under the crop is irrigated. Time of sowing plays a significant role in determining the yield of a crop as sowing at optimum time gives maximum grain yield and net profit. It is usually grown as a catch crop in the Deccan, especially when the rainfall is insufficient for sowing sorghum.
The area, therefore, fluctuates considerably even in drylands. The time of sowing in kharif under rainfed conditions depends on the onset of monsoon. First fortnight of June to mid-July is the optimum time of sowing. In Tamil Nadu, pearl millet is grown as rabi rainfed crop in regions with north-eastern monsoon from September-December.
Irrigated summer crop is seeded in February-March. Delay in sowing reduces the grain yield consistently. The rate of decline in yield may varies from 4 to 80 kg/day/ha under rainfed conditions. As the maximum temperature range of 28-32°C is observed to be optimum for the vegetative growth, thus the crop should be sown by the first fortnight of July.
Late sowing in August resulted in poor stand establishment due to high rate of seedling mortality, slow vegetative growth, poor grain setting and more incidence of diseases due to comparatively low temperature during the period.
If delay in sowing is anticipated, transplanting of seedlings is advocated. Too early sowing, hamper germination and seedling emergence and if late rains continue in the season washing of pollens may takes place, resulting poor grain setting.
Seed Rate and Plant Population:
A seed rate of 4-5 kg/ha is required, if line sowing behind a country plough (kera method) is adopted. The optimum row spacing is 45-50 cm and the plant to plant spacing varies from 10-12 cm. The plant to plant spacing is maintained after 20-25 DAS by way of thinning. The optimum plant population varies from 1.75 to 2.0 lakh plants/ha. In areas having erratic rainfall, plant population of 1.6 lakh/ha should be maintained. The seed should be sown about 2-4 cm deep for proper germination.
Methods of Sowing:
Methods of sowing vary from place to place. In U.P. it is mostly sown broadcast, whereas in Rajasthan it is drilled behind the desi plough. Broadcast method is quite unsatisfactory and generally lead to poor germination and consequently poor yield. The improved method of sowing consists of drilling through a 3-tined harros (triphali). This method is three times more rapid than single-line sowing and saves time.
Sowing bajra with bajra seed drill is the best method. It not only ensures best germination but uniform plant population as well. The line sowing also facilitates intercultural operations done with various implements, hand, bullock or power driven. The sowing with a drill having hoe-type furrow openers and row press gave uniform stand and higher yield of pearl millet than sowing with disc-type furrow openers at CAZRI, Jodhpur.
On sandy loam soils, a flat seedbed should be preferred to ridge and furrow bed. In light soils, the ridge and furrow system gave poor plant stand because germinating seeds are affected by crust-prone soil. Plant stand studies conducted in relation to soil crusting have revealed that application of FYM at 10 t/ha over seed furrows immediately after sowing helps in securing a satisfactory plant stand and consequently higher yields.
The FYM application reduces the beating effect of rains drops. It also reduces the surface drying process keeping the crust strength at a low level which can easily be countered by upward thrust of emerging plumules of seedling.
Transplanting:
In case sowing is delayed due to unavoidable reasons, such as late onset of monsoon or heavy and continuous rain during the optimum sowing or late harvesting of the preceding crop, transplanting has been found to give higher yields as compared to direct sowing. Direct seeding at later stage resulted in poor stand and poor grain setting, and, thus low yield. About 2 kg seed of pearl millet is sown in 500-600 square metre area in nursery to get seedling for one hectare.
The seeds are sown in flat beds (1.20 metre x 7.50 metre) in rows 10 cm apart and at 1.5 cm depth. To give better start to the seedlings, apply 25-30 kg, calcium ammonium nitrate in the nursery. The seedlings are uprooted and transplanted after three weeks of sowing.
Transplant one seedling per hill in rows keeping 50 cm space between rows and 10- 12 cm space between plants to have 1.75-2.0 lakh plants/ha. Transplanting from third week of July to second week of August gives good results. Rainy day should be preferred for transplanting.
Benefits of Transplanting:
The benefits of transplanting includes – (i) early maturity, (ii) escaping from low temperature effect on grain filling (iii) ensuring optimum plant stand and (iv) producing more tillers and earheads as compared to direct seeding. However, the limited moisture periods available in rainfed situation and high labour requirement often limits the wider adaptability of transplanting.
6. Manures and Fertilizers Required for Pearl Millet Cultivation:
Pearl millet is mostly grown as a rainfed crop with little or no use of fertilizers. However, the improved varieties and hybrids responded well to the application of fertilizers. The nutrient requirement of the crop depends on the verities, soil types, growing season and moisture availability. As compared to sorghum and maize, pearl millet removes lesser amounts of N and P but high K. It is estimated that for the production of one tonne grain, pearl millet crop removes about 6.69, 2.46 and 22.54 kg of N,P and K respectively, from the soil.
Application of 8-10 tonnes/ha of FYM or compost at the time of final land preparation, can easily meet the requirement of local varieties of pearl millet and helps in moisture conservation. But the nutrient supply for HW and hybrids should be supplemented with inorganic fertilizers.
Nitrogen, being part of chlorophyll molecule and different amino acids, plays an important role in crop production. As most of the soils are deficient in nitrogen, application of N fertilizer is essential for getting potential yield of pearl millet. Amount of fertilizer should be decided on the basis of soil test value for maximum profit.
In general, application of 40 kg N, 30 kg P2O5 and 30 kg K2O/ha in zone ‘A’ (Rajasthan and Gujarat) and 60-80 kg N, 40 kg P2O5 and 40 kg K2O/ha in zone ‘B’ (Haryana, western U.P., northern M.P. and Maharashtra) is recommended for both hybrids and composite varieties under rainfed conditions. Long term experiments indicates that incorporation of 2.5 and 5.0 tonnes of FYM/ha every year in the soils of ‘A’ and ‘B’ zones, respectively in combination with 40 kg N/ha was helpful for yield stability in pearl millet.
Time of N is a key factor to realise the potential yields of pearl millet. As crop require variable amounts of N at different stages, application of whole of N at one time may not be desirable. Moreover, nitrogen being mobile is liable to leaching losses.
Therefore, split application of N may be better as compared to applying the whole N at sowing. Nitrogen should be applied in two equal splits i.e. half at sowing and half 3 weeks after sowing subject to the availability of soil moisture.
Split application of N saves N losses due to leaching especially in light soils. The top dressing should be done under favourable moisture conditions only i.e. coinciding with rainfall up to flag leaf stage. Basal application through placement of full doses of P and K along with 50% N before planting is recommended. Foliar fertilization of N through urea (2%) has been recommended for rainfed pearl millet.
Recent studies showed that bio-fertilizers such as Azospirillum brasilense (a free living bacterium which shows associated symbiosis when present in the rhizosphere which is capable of fixing N) and phosphobacteria can save 20-25 percent N and P respectively.
Thus, an integrated nutrient management (INM) with 75 % N, P + 100% K as inorganic fertilizer and use of bio-fertilizers like Azospiriilum and phosphobacteria both @ 600 g/ha each for seed treatment or 2 kg/ha each for soil treatment, can sustain the productivity of pearl millet. Similarly, application of Azotobactor is also recommended.
7. Water Management of Pearl Millet:
Basically, pearl millet is a rainfed kharif crop. Water requirement of pearl millet is much lower (250-350 mm) than maize, sorghum and finger millet (500-600 mm). It has been estimated that pearl millet requires, on an average 14-15 mm of water per tonne of grain per ha. Although it is a rainfed crop, but irrigation at anthesis or flowering stage is beneficial.
About 3-4 irrigations are required in the event of complete failure of rainfall. Flowering and grain filling stages are the critical stages of irrigation. As a rainfed crop under normal rainfall distribution, it hardly needs any irrigation. Pearl millet does not tolerate water logging. Thus, rain water should not be allowed to stand in the field for more than a few hours. Proper arrangement for draining the excess water must be made.
8. Moisture Conservation Management of Pearl Millet:
Pearl millet, being a rainfed crop, moisture conservation is vital for a good harvest. Pre- sowing seed treatment with 0.2% KNO3 has been found effective for seed hardening in order to sustain moisture stress conditions.
Reduction in plant density is one of the important midway correction techniques followed to save drought hit pearl millet crop. Removal of plants within a rows is advantageous than removing alternate rows. The uprooted plants may be used as mulch, while keeping plant density of 1.25 lakh plants/ha.
Modified land configuration like bonding or ridge and furrow system is promising in moisture conservation than flatbed sowing. Ridge and furrow system is promising in light soils or sloppy lands in particular. Deep summer ploughing coupled with application of FYM @ 10 t/ha may help in moisture storage and conservation. Breaking of upper crust of the soil layer to check evaporation losses. Intercropping with legumes to provide soil cover during early stages of crop is also beneficial to conserve soil moisture.
9. Thinning/Gap-Filling and Jerking of Pearl Millet:
At the time of first interculture, thinning or gap filling should be done along with removal of weeds, preferably at 7-10 days after sowing. Under irrigated condition thinning and gap filling is usually practiced simultaneously at 18-20 DAS. This operation ensures uniform crop stand and even maturity.
Under rainfed condition the pearl millet is sown using broadcast method (chitta) which results in heavy plant population. At 20-25 days after sowing, deshi plough with blunt share is passed through the young pearl millet seedlings in a criss-cross manner. This practice is known as jerking. This is referred to as gurr (light ploughing is standing crop of pearl millet) in Chambal division of M.P. This operation will facilitate thinning as well as reduce excess tillers, helps in reducing ET loss of water and conserve soil moisture.
10. Weed Management of Pearl Millet:
Being a rainy season crop, it suffers heavily due to weed infestation. The damage is severe during 20-35 DAS. Weed competition with crop could reduce yields by 25-50 percent. Therefore, timely weed control is very essential to get higher yields.
The important weeds of pearl millet includes sawan grass (Echinochloa colonum); doob (Cynodon dactylon); motha (Cyperus rotundus); sathi (Trianthema portucalastrum); kewal (Digitaria sanguinalis), makra (Decteloctenium aegyptium). The crop needs 2-3 intercultural operations between 20-40 DAS.
Avoid deep hoeing near the plants, so that plant roots are not damaged. A wheel hoe, triphal or hand hoe can be used for interculture. Sometimes due to unavailability of labour or soil being too wet to permit manual weeding, timely interculturing/weeding becomes difficult. Under such circumstances the only effective way to control weeds is the use of herbicides.
However, an integrated weed management is more effective in this regards. Pre-emergence application of atrazine @ 0.5 kg/ha dissolved in 800 litres of water controls most of the narrow and broad leaved weeds. Proper weed management is also needed for conserving precious moisture in rainfed areas.
11. Cropping System of Pearl Millet:
Pearl millet forms an important component of cropping system both in rainfed and irrigated areas of the country. Monocropping of pearl millet is prevalent in Rajasthan and Gujarat which has been proved uneconomical compared to pearl millet-legume sequential cropping. Thus, it is recommended to take pearl millet crop in alternate year and grow a legume in between the two crops of pearl millet.
In assured rainfall or partially irrigated areas pearl millet is followed by a rabi crops and general sequence followed are pearl millet -barley, pearl millet-wheat, pearl millet-toria, pearl millet-chickpea, Pearl millet-potato, pearl millet-ber- seem etc. In such cropping sequences, pearl millet is grown as rainfed crop followed by a rabi crops grown on conserved soil moisture. If conserved soil moisture is insufficient, 1-2 irrigations has been found to be highly beneficial for increased yields.
Mixed cropping with pearl millet has been the traditional practice of dryland farmers to reduce the risk of crop failure in aberrant weather. Mixed cropping is not beneficial as it is
practiced without any specific row arrangement for component crops and it results in low yield due to competition among component crops.
Thus, in place of mixed cropping, an intercropping system is recommended. In this system two or more crops are grown simultaneously in the same field in rows in definite geometrical pattern.
The basic concept of intercropping is that two or more species can exploit the environmental and agro-resources better than either of the species grown individually. In Rajasthan, intercropping of pearl millet with clusterbean/mothbean/greengram/cowpea in 2:1 proportion is adopted. This not only covers risks due to failure of monsoon but also provides the grain legumes which help in better nutritional security and gives additional income.
Similarly, intercropping of pearl millet with one or the other pulses like pigeonpea/blackgram/greengram/cowpea/clusterbean is prevalent in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Intercropping of groundnut or castor with hybrid pearl millet has also shown promise at Hisar (Haryana).
Intercropping of greengram with pearl millet (2 rows of greengram in between 2 rows of pearl millet) may give an additional 2-3 q/ha of greengram grain. Two rows of cowpea in place of mungbean may produce about 90 q/ha of green fodder within 45 days. Other intercropping system such as pearl millet + groundnut, pearl millet + sesame, pearl millet + castor, etc. has been found promising and remunerative in pearl millet growing regions.
12. Drought mitigation and Contingency Planning for Pearl Millet:
(i) Normal onset of monsoon with prolonged dry spell during grand growth stage – Reduce plant population by 25% by uprooting and use them as mulch.
(ii) When dry spell occurs immediately after sowing – Replant pearl millet between existing rows or resort to relay cropping with short duration cultivars of oilseeds/pulses.
(iii) Late onset of monsoon – Use Extra early maturing cultivars (below 75 days maturity) and apply additional dose of 20 kg ‘N’ under excessive rains during vegetative stage.
(iv) Terminal drought – Skip top dressing of fertilizers. Spray of fertilizers could be done.
(v) Drought of 2-3 weeks persisting between pre-flowering to grain setting Stage.
Apply one life saving irrigation and dust mulching (hoeing) and 60 cm row spacing with Ridge & Furrow after inter-culture operation (30 days after sowing) have been found effective to minimize the effect of drought under rainfed conditions.
13. Harvesting and Threshing of Pearl Millet:
Maturity of earheads in pearl millet is not uniform, especially in improved varieties due to tillering habit of the crop. The grain crop should be harvested when the grains become brown and hard that contain about 18-20% moisture.
Generally 2 methods for harvesting the crop are adopted, viz. (i) cutting of earhead first from the standing crop followed by cutting the remaining stalk later for fodder, and (ii) cutting the entire plant by sickles and staking the harvested plants for 5-6 days in sun for drying.
The grains are separated either by beating the earheads by sticks or trampling under the feet of bullocks or running tractor. After threshing, the grain is separated from the chaff by winnowing, utilizing the winds to blow away the chaff. Winnower can also be used to clean grain from chaff. After winnowing the cleaned grain is thoroughly dried in hot sun by spreading on dry floor and stirring it frequently.
14. Yield and Storage of Pearl Millet:
A well-managed irrigated crop gives about 3.0-3.5 tonnes (hybrids) and 2.0-2.5 tonnes (composites) of grain and 10.0 tonnes Stover/ha, while unirrigated crop yields about 1.2-1.5 tonnes grain and 7.0-7.5 tonnes of dry Stover/ha. The pearl millet grain should be dried to bring the moisture content down to about 12 % for safe storage.
15. Varieties of Pearl Millet:
Initially, improved cultivars of bajra were evolved by selection (mass/pure line) from land races such as RSK, RSJ and Jakrana (Rajasthan), N-28-15-1 and Avsari (Maharashtra) and Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh). Some of the introductions from Africa also served as varieties (Jamnagar Giant, Improved Ghana and Pusa Moti).
Hybridization was also explored in evolving varieties in the country. HB 1 was the first cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) hybrid evolved in 1965 at Ludhiana, Punjab. Since then many varieties and hybrids have been evolved.
The pearl millet regions in India are regrouped into two major zones in recent years.
Zone A:
North West zone comprising the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Plains of Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, Madhya Pradesh (Bhind, Morena, Gwalior and adjoining areas) and Punjab. Parts of states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana with rainfall < 400 mm are grouped into the sub zone A 1.
Zone B:
South central zone consisting of state of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The traditional/local varieties of pearl millet grow very tall and mature late with low yield potential. As a result of intensive efforts of All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Bajra and SAU’s many hybrids and composites with good yield potential are now available.