FINGER MILLET (RAGI) FLORAL BIOLOGY , BREEDING METHODS AND SEED PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY.

.Contents:

INTRODUCTION

BOTONICAL DISCRIPTION

BREEDING TECHNIQUES

NUCLEUS AND BREEDER SEED PRODUCTION INRAGI

SEED PRODUCTION IN RAGI

REVIEWS

REFERENCES

Finger millet

INTRODUCTION:

Finger millet or ragi (Eleusine coracana) Is a robusttufted annual with a height of 60-120 cm andessentially a self pollinated crop.

The extent of out crossing is less than 1% . This isan advantageous feature during seed production inensuring high level of genetic purity .

Finger millet is the most widely grown small millet inthe world.

Ranks fourth among the millets of the world. Important staple food crop in East and Central

Africa and in India. Grown in uplands of India, China and Africa.

Contd…

Ragi has a wide range of adaptation to soil, however, it isfrequently associated with lateritic soils being mainly grown onred, light red, light black and sandy loams.

The grain is very highly resistant to storage insect pests,even without any special care or attention. It is reputed toremain in good condition even when stored as long as fiftyyears (Ayyangar, 1972).

Digests easily from infancy through old age, and its nutrientsare highly absorbed.

Easy cultivation, low input requirements, free from majorpests / diseases, rejuvenating capacity after alleviation ofstress conditions.

It is used for malting and brewing.

Continue..

Typically a tropical crop, one of the best suited for dryfarming, generally grown rain fed.

Ragi is very adaptable higher elevations than mostother tropical cereals.

Cultivated on soils ranging from rich loams to poorshallow upland soils.

In India, grown on black cotton soils, but thrives onred lateritic loams. Ragi stands salinity better thanmost cereals.

.ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION :

Primary center of origin Ethiopia and highlands of Africa.

Secondary center of origin is India .

major producers are Uganda, India, Nepal and China.

In India it is grown in KA, TN, AP, Orissa, Bihar, Gujaratand Maharashtra.

Various Particulars of Ragi (finger millets) Eleusinecoracana.

In India Finger millet is know as Ragi.

South africa india

Area, production and productivity of finger millet in India (2008-2009)

State Area(000hectares)

Production(000 tons)

Averageproductivity(Kg/hectare)

AndhraPradesh

50 52 1040

Bihar 11 9 816Gujarat 19 20 1053Jharkhand 12 9 702Karnataka 841 1394 1658Maharashtra 126 125 992

Orissa 65 41 624Sikkim 4 4 886Tamil Nadu 90 1709 1887Uttarakhand 135 193 1430Uttar Pradesh 1 1 1333

West Bengal 13 15 1157Others 14 7 500Total 1381 2040 1477

. Nutrition:

Finger millet is especially valuable as it contains the aminoacid methionine.

which is lacking in the diets of hundreds of millions of the poorwho live on starchy staples such as cassava, plantain,polished rice, or maize meal. Finger millet can be ground andcooked into cakes, porridge.

The grain is made into a fermented drink (or beer) in Nepal andin many parts of Africa.

The straw from finger millet is used as animal fodder. It isalso used for as a flavored drink in festivals.

.Nutritional value of Finger Miller per 100g

Protein : 7.6g Fat : 1.5g Carbohydrate : 88g Calcium: 370mg Vitamins – A: 0.48mg Thiamine (B1): 0.33mg Riboflavin (B2): 0.11mg Niacin: 1.2mg Fiber : 3g

Finger millet cookies(Ragibiscuits)

Ragi(Finger Millet) & Besan(Split Chick Pea Flour) Poori

Steamed Sweet Finger Millet Crumb

Ragi porridge Ragi mudde

cakeRagi puttuRagi halwa

burfi

.BOTONICAL DESCRIPTION

Kingdom: Plantae Subkingdom: Tracheobionta Super division : Spermatophyta Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Subclass: Commelinidae Order: Cyperales Family: Poaceae Genus : Eleusine Gaertn Species: coracana (L.) Gaertn.

S N; Eleusine coracana

Finger millet

.DIFFERENT SPECIES.

Diploid species(2n=18)1. Eleusine indica 2. Eleusine oligostachya 3. E.tristachya 4. E. poranansis 5. E. jaegeri 6. E. flacifolia

Tetraploid species.(2n=36)1. Eleusine coracana 2 E. africana 3. E. Longipoides4. E. verticillata5. E. cagopoides

There are two cultivated types of ragi.

Indian ragi (2n = 4x = 36) E.coracana (tetraploids) - Shortfingers, small grains, photoinsensitive.

African ragi ( 2n = 4x = 36) E.africana (tetraploids) It haslong fingers, bold grain, stiffstraw, photosensitive anduneven grain maturity phase.

Eleusine coracana

Eleusine africana

.Description

Annual grass; culms erect, laterallyflattened, 60-120 cm tall or long,profusely tillering, plants oftenlodged or prostrate; root systemfibrous and remarkably strong,permeating soil thoroughly,inflorescence a whorl of 2-8(normally 4-6), digitate, straight,or slightly curved spikes 12.5-15cm long, about 1.3 cm broad;spikelets about 70, arrangedalternately on rachis, eachcontaining 4-7 seeds, varying from1-2 mm in diameter; seed issmooth , reddish-brown to nearlywhite or black.

spike

stem

leaves

roots

Cont…..

Culm : Compressed and culms are typically green in colour. Culm nodes are glabrous. Culm internodes solid or hollow.

Leaf sheath : Leaf sheaths are prominently flattened.

Leaf blade : Leaf blades linear, narrow, flat or folded, without cross veination.

1, stem part with leaves; 2, inflorescence; 3, part of inflorescence branch; 4, spikelet; 5, floret without lemma and palea; 6, grain within lemma and palea; 7, grain.

FLORAL BIOLOGY

Inflorescence : It consists of a group of digitally arranged spikes in a terminal umbel form.

Spikelet : Spikelets are strongly compressed laterally, curved into two over lapping rows on the outer sides of the spike.

Each spikelet has 4-6 flowers, flowers per ear head 1500 – 3000.

stigma

Lemma ,paleastamens

glumes

Lemma : Pointed, awnless, hairless.

Palea : Present,awnless.

Lodicules : Present and two in number joined or free, fleshy.

Glumes : Two, more or less equal. Lower glume 1 nerved.

Cont….

Stamen: Flower contains 3 stamens, short anthers and long filament.

Pistil: Ovary glabrous. Styles free to their bases. Branched stigma with white or brown in colour.

Fruit : The grains are globose.

Dissected finger millet

Terminal whorl bearing 2 to 8, butaveraging 5 or 6 spikes arranged like abirds foot at the top of the peduncle.

The lowest spike is separated by 2 to 5cm from the other spikes and which arisefrom the same point at the end of thestem

Contd….

In each finger there are about 70spikelet's, each spikelet having fiveto seven complete flowers.

An ear head contains 1,500 to3,000 flowers.

Inflorescence types

TOP INCURVED OPEN TYPE

INCURVED TYPE

Anthesis

An thesis commences from topspikelet and progress downwards. Eachspikelet contains 5 to 7 flowers, theopening of the florets starts frombottom to top.

One floret in the spikelet opens perday.

Flowering takes place simultaneouslyin all fingers.

Cont….

Complete emergence of the inflorescence requires 7 -8 days.

Depending upon the ear shape –Flower opening period will vary

Compact : 2-3 a.m.Fisty : 3-5 a.m. Open : 1-2 a.m.

Pollen viability is very short, 10 – 15 min.

Anthers require about 45 minutes for dehiscence after emergence

The stigma is receptive for about five minutes.

Self pollination is the general rule because the period of anthesis is very short.

Cross fertilization by wind and insects is less than 1 per cent.

It is a naked seed ; botanically the seed is called utricle .the seed has thin papery pericarp . Sometimes it may or may not be attached with the seed . ragi is small rounded with 2mm diameter and usually dull red in color.

About 400-500 seeds weigh one gram.

The pericarp can be removed from the seed easily.

SEED

Breeding Goals

To enhance the productivity.

Improving the quality of the grains.

To develop genotypes resistance to biotic and abiotic stress.

Early maturity.

Agronomic characteristics:-1.Height: Medium 50-75cm is best.

Breeding methods

IntroductionInter state- Indaf 5 and sarada from Karnataka.

Pure line selection

Paiyur 1 from the base material PR 722

Mutation BreedingHagari 1( H1) [From Gidda Aryam] (gama rays)

Shubra[ Mutant from Co 9 ] (gama rays)

Hybridization followed by selectionCO 6 [EC 1540 X EC 2945]

Poorna [ Co 1 X Aruna ] Indaf 8 [ Cauvery X IE 927 ] Indaf 9[K1 X IE 980 R ]

Some mutant varieties.SI.NO MUTANT VARIETY ORIGINAL

VARIETYMUTAGEN

USEDPLACE

1 Dibya Sin ha Sarada _ Orissa

2 CO- 3 CO -1 _ Tamil Nadu

3 B -11 57-A-3 Gama rays Maharashtra

4 Hamsa _ Gama rays _

5 Annapurna _ _ _

6 Cauvery _ _ _

GERMPLASM.

At the ICRISAT gene bank.

5949 finger millet germplasm accessions from 24 countries are conserved for use in research and development.

Dr. Vandana Shiva among the fingermillet atNavdanya's SeedBank in Dehradun, India.

SELFING AND CROSSING TECHNIQUES

SELFING TECHNIQUE:-

The panicle before commencing an thesis is covered with paper cover.

Retained till the blooming is over.

EMASCULATION.

It is nothing but the process of removal of male part fromthe flower.

In Ragi, two methods of Emasculation are being followed.

1. Hand Emasculation.

2. Hot Water Treatment.

Hand emasculation

Selection of panicles and florets that would open the next day.

Selected panicle is covered by a polythene bag after sprayingthe plant with cold water and fixed air tight.

The glumes slowly open and expose the premature anthers andpistil.

The 3 anthers can be carefully removed, without injuring thestigmatic lobes.

The emasculated panicle is sprinkled with cold water to preventdrying of the pistil.

In the male parent, the panicles that would open the next dayare cut and tied to the emasculated seed parent and coveredby a butter paper bag.

Hot water treatment

Plants likely to flower during the next 2-3days are selected

Hot water treatment at 520C for 2minutes was the best as judged from thepercentage of seed-set.

Three fingers retained in the panicle areimmersed into thermo flask containing hotwater for different period.

Then the spikelet's are pollinated early in the morning.

The male parent, that would open the next day are tied to the emasculated seed parent and covered by a butter paper bag.

Hot water treatment

Contact method

The reason for using contact techniques are as follows:

Autogamous nature of crops with very small florets.

Anthesis takes place in the very early hours of the day.

The pollen is viable for a short period.

Procedure Planting date is adjusted so as to synchronize flowering of

male and female parents. Selection of proper stage – just flowered at tip of ear. Prepare ear and remaining portion of the finger and immature

portion of the ear are removed with scissors. Retain only 2 or 3 fingers.

Select male ear which is similar in condition of flowering / just flowered.

Surround two female fingers with all male fingers very loosely and tie it in such a way to allow proper aeration.

Remove the thread after complete flowering of the ear. Tag the crossed ear head for identification and collecting the

seeds. Contact method (Karnataka) has been successfully utilised for

crossing and the varieties developed are GPU 26, GPU 28and GPU 48.

Constraints in hybridization

All small millets have small florets which are not amenable for easy hand emasculation and hybridization.

The floral morphology and breeding behaviour of most of the millets make them more difficult species to work with.

Nearly all the millet cultivars grown were the result of selection from land races rather than designed crosses and selections.

CULTIVATION:

Eleusine coracana is often intercropped with legumes such as peanuts (Arachishypogea), cowpeas (Vigna sinensis), and pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan), or other plants such as Niger seeds (Guizotia abyssinica)

Although statistics on individual millet species are confused, and are sometimes combined with sorghum.

It is estimated that finger millet is grown on approximately 38,000 km2.

India is a major cultivator of finger millet with a total cultivated area of 15870 km2

The state of Karnataka is the leading producer of finger millet, known as Ragi in the region, accounting for 58% of India's Ragi production.]

Intercropping of mulberry with Finger millet.

ragi as a strip crop in groundnut.

• Mixed cropping (Ragi, Pigeon pea, castor and winged bean)

Fields of finger millet in the Annapurna-region of Nepal.

General scheme of nucleus seed production in Ragi

Release and notification of a variety Follow required isolation for the crop

Select 100-200 single ears from the main tiller of true to type plants for ear to row evaluation. The number to be decided based on SMF and nuclear seed requirement.

Thresh the single ears separately, study for seed morphology and for other distinct seed characters.

Grow ear to row progeny of selected single plants 20-30 plants in each row must be grown.

Retain part of the seed.

Nucleus seed production using remnant seed

Discard any rows showing deviation from the released variety

Nucleus seed stock

Grow 3000-5000 plants

Mark rows having all plant similar to the released variety for all DUS characters. Progenies showing variation should be rejected.

The bulk seed of the selected rows could be harvested and used as nucleus seed and nuclear seed requirement could be high. Use the remnant seed for further nucleus seed production.Breeder

seed productio

n

Step 1

Remnant seeds of marked /selected rows be bulked

Raised in the research farm by the breeder

Step 3

Step

2

NUCLEUS SEED PRODUCTION :

As already mentioned the very high self pollinated nature of these crops is an advantage during seed production in ensuring high level of genetic purity .

In view of its very high inbreeding nature the required isolation distance is less, around 3-5 meters .

Nucleus seed is the first stage in the seed multiplication chain of a released variety and is the only seed used produce its own seed class .

To produce nucleus seed of a variety the basic maintained by the breeder is the pre requisite .

nucleus seed is directly produced by original plant breeders and required to have sent percent genetic purity .

Although ragi is highly self pollinated ,it desirable to self individual panicle of selected single plants in the first stage of nucleus seed production .

BREEDER SEED PRODUCTION :

Breeder seed is produced from the nucleus seeds stock production is supervised by either original breeder or sponsor plant breeder .

Breeder must have maximum genetic purity and form the material for production of other classes of seeds in the seed chain .

In case of breeder seed of more than 1 variety is produced ,a minimum isolation distance of 5 mtrs should be followed.

Maintenance of genetic purity in breeder seed plots:

Being a highly self pollinated crop maintenance of genetic purity is not difficult as long as basic principles of seed production are adopted .

The problem of genetic purity some time arises because of voluntary plants coming from previous year crop so we should know the preceding crop requirement .

Breeder seed production should receive adequate attention during field preparation ,irrigation and crop protection to obtain a good quality seed.

Seed multiplication ratio:• Under good management seed multiplication ratio goes up to

1:500

Storability of seeds:• Seeds can remain viable for 2-3 years even in ambient

conditions.

• In storage condition temperature and humidity have controlled the seed viability easily gets prolonged to 5-10 years .

• These advantages should be harnessed while producing nucleus or breeder seed production and these can be stored 5 years or even more depending upon kind of storage facilities available Thus avoiding every year seed production helpful in saving manpower and in minimizing the cost of seed produced.

SEED PRODUCTION: FINGER MILLET

Ragi is an all season crop and is grown mainly in the tropics. It requires a well distributed rainfall (i.e. annual rainfall 600-800mm) during growing season with an absence of prolonged droughts. Crop grows well, where the average maximum temperature exceeds 27°C. Regions of high humidity are not suitable for its cultivation.

Climate

Soil

The crop is grown on a variety of soils, but reasonably fertile and free draining sandy loam soils are preferred. Ragi cannot tolerate water logging. It thrives best on red lateritic loams.

Sl No. Name of the crop/variety

Year of release

National /State level

Adaptation zone

Special features

1 Indaf 7 1986 State Karnataka Cold tolerant, suitable for rabi season

2 Indaf 8 1986 State Karnataka Late variety suitable for early kharif planting.

3 Indaf 9 1986 State Karnataka Early variety, suitable for late kharif planting as well as for summer season

4 HR 911 1986 State Karnataka Tall erect plant type, long fingers with semi compact.

Varieties

Sl No. Name of the crop/variety

Year of release

National /State level

Adaptation zone

Special features

1 Indaf 7 1986 State Karnataka Cold tolerant, suitable for rabi season

2 Indaf 8 1986 State Karnataka Late variety suitable for early kharif planting.

3 Indaf 9 1986 State Karnataka Early variety, suitable for late kharif planting as well as for summer season

4 HR 911 1986 State Karnataka Tall erect plant type, long fingers with semi compact.

Varieties

5 PR 2614 1990 State Tamil Nadu -

6 MR 1 1992 State Karnataka High seed yield

7 GPU 28 1996 State Karnataka Highly resistant to both finger and neck blast disease, compact ear with tip incurved

8 GPU 45 2001 National Madhya Pradesh, Gujarath, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Early duration and highly resistance to blast disease

9 GPU 67 2009 National Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand,Karnataka,Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu andUttarakhand

Non lodging (Semi dwarfstature) resistance to blastdiseases

10 GPU 66 2009 State Karnataka Green plant parts with narrowleaves light green, mediumcompact ears with fingers tipincurved. Resistant to neckand finger blast

11 KMR-301 2010 State Karnataka Open and tip incurved earhead, grains are bold and redin colour.

VARIETIES DURATION (DAYS)

AVG YLD (q/ha)

Remarks.

Godavari 115-120 30-40 Good tillering, drought tolerant, widely adaptable, suitable for Kharif and Rabi

Ratnagiri 110-115 30-40 Good tillering, suitable for kharif and Rabi

Gauthami 115-120 30-40 Good tillering, blast tolerant

Padmavathi 110-115 30-40 Good tillering, suitable for kharif and Rabi.

Suraj (VR –520)

95-100 20-25 Early variety suitable for punasa season.

Saptagiri 110-115 30-40 Good tillering with good lengthy fingers, blast tolerant.

Maruthi 90 25 Early variety, which can escape terminal drought.

RULING VARIETIES

GPU 28

L 5

GPU 26

MR 1

INDAF 9

GOFI-R 10 HIGH YIELDING VARIETY (VML -365) DROUGHT TOLERANT

SEED CERTIFICATION IN FINGER MILLET (Elusine caracana L.)

I. Application and Amplification of General Seed Certification Standards The General Seed Certification Standards are basic, and together with the following specific standards constitute the standards for certification of finger millet seed.

II. Land Requirements Land to be used for seed production of finger millet shall be free of volunteer plants.

III. Field inspection A minimum of two inspections shall be made, first during flowering and the second at maturity and prior to harvesting.

IV. Field Standards

Field standard

(A) General requirements

Contaminants Foundation(m)

Certified (m)

Fields of other varieties

3 3

Fields of the same variety not confirming to varietal purity requirements for certification.

3 3

(B) Specific requirements

Factors Foundation Certified

Off types 0.050 0.10

Maximum permitted at final inspection.

ISOLATION REQUIREMENTS

Ragi is normally self pollinated crop but naturally outcrossing will be 1-4% .It is usually sufficient isolate seedfield with 3m all around .

ROGUING

Roguing should be started before . All rogues & volunteers must be cut from the ground level or

pulled out. Remove off types in the field at flowering rouging should be

done due to remove pollen shedding from designated disease plants .

The field should be rouged thoroughly before harvesting.

IRRIGATED RAINFED

RainfallAverage and well distributed rainfall of 450-500 mm is optimum for rain fed ragi

same

Seasonsummer irrigated crop by planting January – February.

June- July in Tamil Nadu.It also grown in winter season (rabi) by planting in September – October in Tamil Nadu .

PREPARATION OF LANDFor raising seedlings to plant one ha of main field, Plough two or three times with a mould board plough or five times with a country plough. FORMING RAISED BEDPRE-TREATMENT OF THE SEEDS WITH FUNGICIDESuniform coating of seeds with Pseudomonas sp. 2gm/kg of seeds.

Seed treatment with Azospirillum may be done @ 3 packets/ha (600g/ha)Make shallow rills not deeper than one cm on the beds by passing the fingers vertically over them.seed hardening techniqueBroadcast 5 kg of treated seeds evenly on the beds.Cover the seeds by levelling out the hand lightly over the soil.Sprinkle 500 kg of powdered FYM over the beds evenly to cover the seeds which are exposed and compact the surface lightly.

TillageFallow ploughing ,In the month of April or May, one deep ploughing with mould board plough followed by ploughing with wooden plough twice is necessary. Before sowing secondary tillage with cultivator and multiple tooth hoe to prepare smooth seed bed is necessary. the recommended seed rate of 15-20 kg per hectare will contain about 4 million seeds. Sowing by seed-cum-fertilizer drill is advantageous for line sowing besides efficient utilization of applied nutrients Bio-fertilizersAzospirillum brasilense (N fixing bacterium) and Aspergillus awamori (P solubilizing fungs) @ 25 g/kg seed is beneficial.

PREPARATION OF MAIN FIELD1. PLOUGHING THE FIELDPlough twice with mould board plough or thrice with wooden plough till a good tilth is obtained. puddling the land correctly.

2.APPLICATION OF FYM OR COMPOSTSpread 12.5 t/ha of FYM or compost or composted coir pith evenly on the unploughed field and then plough and incorporate in the soil.

3.APPLICATION OF FETILIZERSSoil test based fertilizer recommendations may be adopted in Western and North Western Zones in soils adopt a blanket recommendation of 60 kg N, 30 kg P2O5 and 30 kg K2O per ha.

4.FORMING BEDS AND CHANNELSi. Form beds of according to topography of the field.ii. Provide suitable irrigation channels.5.APPLICATION OF MICRONUTRIENT MIXTUREi. Mix 12.5 kg. of micronutrient mixture formulated by the Department of Agriculture, Tamil nadu with enough sand to make a total quality of 50 kg/ha.

Recommended dose of 40:20:20 kg/ha N:P:K was applied .Entire P2O5 and K2O are to be applied at sowing, whereas nitrogen is to be applied in two or three split doses depending upon moisture availability. 25-30 and 40-45 days after sowing.

MANAGEMENT OF MAINFIELDTRANSPLANTING THE SEEDLINGSPlant 2 seedlings per hill.Plant the seedlings at a depth of 3 cm.Plant 18 to 20 days old seedlings.Adopt a spacing of 15x15 cm for planting.

Root dipping with Azospirillum:Prepare slurry with 5 packets (1000g)/ha of Azospirillum inoculant in 40 litres of water and dip the root portion of the seedlings in the solution for 15-30 minutes and transplant.

Line sowing is ideal and seed drills giving spacing of 22.5 – 30 cm between rows should be used. spacing of 7.5 – 10 cm between plants, must be followed.

WATER MANAGEMENTi. Provide one inlet to each nursery unit.ii. Allow water to enter through the inlet and cover all the channels around the beds. Allow the water in the channels to raise till the raised beds are wet and then cut off water.iii. Adjust the frequency of irrigation according to the soil type.

.

No.of irrigations RED SOILS HEAVY SOILS1st Immediately after sowing Immediately after sowing2nd 3rd day after sowing 4th day after sowing3rd 7th day after sowing 9th day after sowing4th 12th day after sowing 16th day after sowing5th 17th day after sowing ..

Establishment(1-7 days) Vegetative phase(8-20 days) Flowering phase(21-55 days) Maturity phase(56-120 days) Stop irrigation thereafter

main field

LAND PREPARATION

TRANSPLANTING RAGI

Irrigated ragi field.

Weed free ragi field. HOEING AND HAND WEEDING

WEED MANAGEMENTHand weed twice on 10th and 20th day after transplanting.

In line sown crop 2-3 inter-cultivations are necessary. In assured rainfall and irrigated areas spraying 2, 4-D sodium salt @ 0.75 kg.a.i./ha as post-emergent spray around 20-25 days after sowing effectively controls weeds. Isoproturon @ 0.5 a.i/ha as pre-emergence spray is also effective in control of weeds.

PEST MANAGEMENTi. Spray any one of the following Botanicals per ha for the control of leaf hopper, aphids and stem borer. Neem kernel extract 5%.ii. Apply the neem cake powder mixed with ash at milky stage to check earhead bug and earhead caterpillar. the hairy caterpillars (Amsacta albistriga).

by spraying Endosulphan (0.07%) or Monocrotophos 0.05%. Grasshoppers can be con- trolled by spraying / dusting BHC 10% in early stages of infection.

Diseases,

blast (Pyricularia spp),

Seedling blight(Cochiobolus noduloeus),

Downy mildew(Sclero- phthora macrospora)

(i) a treatment of seed with Cap tan or Thiram or Emisan @ 3g/kg of seed before sowing, (2) by spraying the crop with Hinoson or Bavistln twice at tillering and ear -head emergence stage, and (3) growing resistant varieties like PES -8 or PES -176. A spraying with Dithane M-45 (0.02%) or Dithane Z- 78 (02% ) will effectively reduce the damage from downy mildew and blight diseases.

Management•Seed treatments withCaptan or Thiram @ 4g/kgor Carbendazim 2g/kg ofseed.•Spray Tricyclazole @ 500gor Edifenphos 500ml orCarbendazim 250g/h

Nodes become black and break up .

Nodal Blast:

Blast Leaf blast

Small specks on funnel leaves

Mottling of centre plant Chlorotic streaks along vein

Mosaic: PotyvirusMottle streak: Nucleorhabdovirus

Vector: Cicadulina bipuntella,C. chinai

Yellowing of entire plant Symptoms on ear head Severity of mottle streak diseases

Management:

Rogue out the affected plants Spray systemic insecticides Methyl dematon or Monocrotophos

500ml/ha. when noticing symptom and repeat twice if necessary at 20days interval to control the vector.

STORAGE PEST. Indian meal moth

Plodia interpunctella Hubner.

Larger grain borerProstephanus truncatus

Red flour beetleTribolium castaneum

Growth and development

Finger millet seeds lack dormancy. However, they will not germinate in soil that lacks sufficient moisture to support seedling growth.

Seedlings are sensitive to drought, but mature plants go dormant during short periods of drought and produce new tillers when conditions become favourable again.

Plants tiller strongly and root from lower nodes, and provide excellent protection against soil erosion.

Time from planting to flowering is 50–120 days; the complete crop cycle is 3–6 months.

Physiological maturity

i. Ragi crop does not mature uniformly and hence the harvest is to be taken up in two stages.

ii. When the ear head on the main shoot and 50% of the ear heads on the crop turn brown, the crop is ready for the first harvest.

iii. Dry ear heads until seed moisture content is 15%

HARVESTING

First Harvesti. Cut all ear heads which have turned brown.ii. Dry, thresh and clean the grains bywinnowing.

Second Harvesti. Seven days after the first harvest, cut all

the ear heads including the green ones.

ii. Cure the grains to obtain maturity byheaping the harvested ear heads in shade forone day without drying, so that the humidityand temperature increase and the grains getcured.

iii. Dry, thresh and clean the grains bywinnowing and store the grains in gunnies.

Ragi ” harvesting… the heads of the ragi crop are cut off in the field.

Dry ear heads until seed moisture content is 15% and separate manually by threshing with bamboo stick or machine thresher.

Threshing

Pre cleaning and dryingThreshed seeds should be pre cleaned before sun drying, seeds must be dried to 12% before grading.

Ragi processing

Ragi harvesting

winnowingPreparing to winnowWinnowed seeds

SEED YIELD

Rain fed condition = 10-15 quintals per haIrrigated condition = 40 quintals per ha

Storage

The grain is notably free from any serious pest damage in store and it keeps well for several years provided it is kept dry without deterioration or weevil damage.

Consequently, it is an important famine food. Dry straw can also be stored for a sufficient long time and used as fodder.

Seed retains viability and vigour better than any other cereal crop with marginal storage facilities in hot humid areas.

For long term storage, in humid places 700 gauge polythene bag may be used.

Table .1.Effect of planting method, sowing date and spacing on weed dry weight and plant height of finger millet in2009 and 2010 wet season

Treatments Weed dry weight 9 WAS1

2009 2010

Plant height (c m)

2009 2010

Planting method

Broadcasting 1.11 35.33 75.67 70.67

Dibbling 1.11 38.89 71.93 65.96

SE ± 4.507 12.672 8.033 4.096

Sowing date

11th June25th June

1.27 0.92

37.78 38.33

74.11 74.78

69.0068.94

9th JulySE ±Spacing

1.16 4.507

35.22 12.672

72.508.033

67.004.096

10cm 1.19 34.40 82.22 71.94

15cm20cmSE ±

1.05 1.09 4.507

37.2239.61 12.672

71.6767.50 8.033

70.2262.784.096

Shinggu, C.P. et,al,2009 nigeriaPlanting of fingermillet at 10cm inter-row spacing in both years of study and 15cm in 2010 gavesignificantly taller plants than planting at 20cm inter-row spacing.

Table. 2.Effect of planting method, sowing date and spacing on number of panicle per plot, panicle weight and 1000-seed weight of finger millet.

Treatments 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010

Planting method

gms gms gms gms

Broadcasting 542.8 565 1885 2187 2.70 2.67

Dibbling 482.6 539 1634 2000 2.74 2.43

SE ± 70.08 94.32 293.57 359.99 9.860 9.860

Sowing date

11th June 486 547 1576 2269 2.67 2.44

25th June 558 576 1967 1993 2.78 2.30

9th July 494 534 1735 2019 2.72 2.91

SE ± 70.79 94.325 293.571 359.995 9.860 9.860

Spacing

10cm 479 621a 1953 2643 2.72 2.47

15cm 517 634a 1735 2184 2.61 2.56

20 cm 543 402b 1590 1454 2.83 2.62

SE ± 70.079 94.325 293.571 359.995 9.860 9.860

Panicle number Panicle weight 1000 seed weight

Planting finger millet by broadcast gave higher number ofpanicles than planting by dibbling method.

Planting finger millet by broadcast gave higher number ofpanicles than planting by dibbling method.

Planting finger millet on the 25th June gave heavier panicle thanplanting on the 11th June but comparable with crop planted onJuly 9th.

Planting finger millet at row spacing of 10 and 15cm gave heavierpanicle weight than when planted at 20cm.

Planting the crop at 10cm gave the heaviest 1000 seed weight inthe trial.

Table. 3 Influence of spacing and seed rate on crop dry matter and yield of finger millet at Samaru, Zaria during the 2007 and 2008 wet seasons

Treatment Spacing (cm)

2007 2008 2007 2008

10 18.24 16.35 3829 291015 17.84 17.22 3790 282520 17.91 17.07 2945 277125 18.05 16.55 2681 176830 18.48 17.13 2665 1537SE ± Seed-rate (Kg/ha)

10 14.65 14.26 2598 147815 15.40 16.51 2701 173620 17.26 17.48 2739 178525 21.81 20.58 3822 287230 21.41 20.86 3848 2987SE± 0.691 0.143 10.070 37.500

2009

Grain yield kg/haCrop Dry Matter at 9WAS

C.P. Shinggu et.al10 cm spacing getting higher grain yield. And 30 kg per ha seed rate getting higher grain yield.

Table .4. Effect of combined inoculation of Azospirillum and AM fungi on yield attributes of Co 12 finger millet

Treatments No. offinger/plant

Ear head length(cm/plant)

Haulms yield(t/ha)

Grain yield(t/ha)

Percent increaseover control

Control 4.0 5.7 5.21 3.16 -

Nitrogen control

6.4 8.0 5.88 3.76 18.4

Phosphorus control

6.0 7.0 5.44 3.63 15.2

Azospirillum 7.0 7.8 5.88 4.07 29.0

AM fungi 6.8 6.9 5.69 3.73 18.0

Azospirillum + AM fungi

7.3 8.0 6.29 4.31 36.8

CD (p = 0.05)

- 0.22 0.33 0.22 -

Journal of Experimental Sciences Vol. 1, Issue 8, Pages 10-11 [2010]www.jexpsciences.com

the effect of Azospirillum brassilense and AM(Arbuscular mycorrhizae) fungi on the growth andyield of finger millet is higher M. Ezhil Bama et.al

Table 5 . Effect of drought and irrigation on grain yield, total biomass, H.I.and RUE of two finger millet landraces.

Treatments Grain yield (t/ha)

Biomass (t/ha)

H.I. RUE (g perMJ)

Drought 1.93 9.63 0.20 2.10

Irrigation 4.05 14.64 0.28 2.82

Landrace

TZA-01 3.41 13.98 0.23 2.56

TZM-01 2.57 10.29 0.25 2.36

Drought x Landrace

Irrigated TZA-01 4.88 18.14 0.27 3.11

Irrigated TZM-01 3.22 11.14 0.29 2.53

Droughted TZA-01 1.94 9.82 0.20 2.02

Droughted TZM-01 1.92 9.44 0.21 2.19

Statistical summary

S.E.D. 0.0783 0.856 3.55 0.4186

d.f 2 2 2 2

Irrigation treatment getting good grain yield,h.i. biomass, radiation use efficiency. Pak. J. Bot., 39(1): 123-134, 2007.

MUHAMMAD MAQSOOD et.al

Table.6.Effect fertilizer and protective irrigation on yield and attributes of Ragi

Treatments No of ears per hill

No of fingers per ear head

Seed yield per hill(g)

Grain yield(kg/ha)

1f0 7.05 5.95 24.49 2933

1f1 8.58 6.5 28.31 3194

1f2 8.13 6.08 24.54 2603

2f0 8.75 6.33 30.19 3109

2f1 9.78 6.13 35.19 3859

2f 2 10.4 6.26 30.52 3561

1f0-no protective irrigation and no fertilizer application1f1-no protective irrigation and 25:25:25 kg NPK/ha1f2-no protective irrigation and 25:50:25 kg NPK/ha2f0-with protective irrigation and no fertilizer application2f1-with protective irrigation and 25:25:25 kg NPK/ha2f2-with protective irrigation and 25:50:25 kg NPK/ha

Ramamurthy et.al 1999 )

2f1-with protective irrigation and 25:25:25 kg NPK/ha Getting higher seed yield per hill and grain yield.

Table. 7.Yield parameters of finger millet crop as influenced by different approaches of fertilizer prescriptions

Treat. No

Treatments Number of ear heads / plant

Finger length (cm)

Test weight of 1000 seeds (g)

Grain yield (Kg /ha)

Straw yield (Kg /ha)

% Deviation in grain yield from the target

% Increase in grain yield over control

T1 Control. 3.0 5.0 2.93 2649.2 6893.4 _ _

T2 GRD (fertilizers) + 10 t / ha FYM.

4.0 6.0 3.07 2893.6 7574.8 _ 41.19

T3 STL (fertilizers) + 10 t / ha FYM.

4.0 6.0 3.18 2925.7 8320.5 _ 42.75

T4 STCR (fertilizers). 4.3 6.0 3.54 3017.1 8962.4 - 25.00 47.24

T5 STCR (fertilizers + 10 t / ha FYM).

4.3 6.0 3.78 3115.8 8310.6 - 22.50 52.02

T6 STCR (fertilizers + 10 t / ha FYM) + Azotobacter.

4.6 6.0 3.92 3392.4 9051. - 17.50 65.54

T7 STCR (fertilizers+ 10 t / ha FYM) + PSB.

4.6 6.3 4.01 3557.8 9219.2 - 12.50 73.59

T8 STCR (fertilizers + 10 t / ha FYM) + Azotobacter + PSB.

4.6 .7.3 4.12 3740.5 9485.9 - 7.50 82.52

S. Em ± 0.20 0.17 0.04 68.60 148.90

CD (0.05) 0.61 0.52 0.14 208.11 451.70

2007 Apoorva et al. bangalore

T1: Control, T2: GRD (fertilizers) + 10 t / ha FYM, (general recommended dose)T3: STL (fertilizers) + 10 t / ha FYM, T4: STCR (fertilizers), (Soil Test crop response ) T5: STCR (fertilizers + 10 t / ha FYM), T6: STCR (fertilizers + 10 t / ha FYM) + Azotobacter, T7: STCR (fertilizers + 10 t / ha FYM) + PSB (Phosphorus Solubilizing Bacteria) T8: STCR (fertilizers + 10 t / ha FYM) + Azotobacter + PSB. T8 treatment getting higher grain yield.

Table .8.Effect of harvesting at different stages on moisture content ,1000 seed weight and germination

Days after 50% flowering

Moisture content%

1000 seed weight(g)

Germination %

Moisture% Seed weight(g)

Germination %

12 67.3 0.8 4 64.7 0.6 11

14 60 1.56 13 59.7 0.82 12

16 59 1.66 24 54.8 0.95 21

28 29.9 3 87 31.2 2.95 76

29 29 2.96 83 29.9 2.95 81

SE 0.088 0.026 0.025 0.036 0.014 0.019

Purna & Indaf -8

Narayanaswami et.al (2001)No difference in varieties.

REFERENCES

Google scholarWikipedia and encyclopediaAYYANGAR, G. N, R. (1972). The inheritance of charactersin ragi, Eleusine coracana Gaertn., Madras Agr. J. 20: 1-9. S.NARAYANASWAMY. (1980). Studies in physiologicalmaturity, shedding, threshing & drying in some improvedvarieties of Ragi.