FOXTAIL MILLET

Foxtail millet is also known as “Indian millet”, “German millet”, “Italian millet”, “Siberian millet” and “Foxtail bristlegrass”. It is an annual and warm season crop. The plant attains the height of 2-5ft (60-152cm).  It has coarse and leafy stem. It contains convex seed grains having variety of colors ranging from light yellow to brown, rusty and black. It is grown in India, China, Russia, United states and in Africa. Mainly it is used as high quality green fodder, hay and pasture.

It grows well in sandy to loamy soil. It requires 5.5-7 pH of soil.

PRC 1: Released in 2008. The plant attains the height of 110-125cm. Ready to harvest in 70-110 days. It contains dark amber colored grains. The variety is resistant to leaf blight. It gives an average yield of 5-6qtl/acre.

SiA 36: Released in 1995. The plant attains the height of 110cm. Ready to harvest in 72-75 days. It contains light yellow colored grains. The variety is moderately tolerant to downy mildew. It gives an average yield of 6-7qtl/acre.

Arjun: This is nationally approved variety. It gives an average yield of 5-6qtl/acre and 16-18qtl/acre of dry fodder. The variety gets mature in 80-85 days. The plant attains the height of 90-95cm.

SiA 326: It is also nationally approved variety. It gives an average yield of 4-5qtl/acre and the variety gets mature in 75-80 days. The plant attains the height of 85-90cm. It gives 12-17qtl/acre of dry fodder. The straw is 11-13cm long.

Gavri (RS 11) (1995): The variety is recently produced for Rajasthan area, it gives 6-7qtl/acre of yield and 18-20qtl/acre of dry fodder. The variety gets mature in 75-80 days. The plant attains the height of 125cm. The straw is 11-13cm long.

Meera (RS 16) (2000): Medium height variety having 105cm height. It gives 6-7qtl/acre of seeds yield and 19-20qtl/acre of dry fodder yield. The variety gets mature in 75-80 days. It has cream color seeds.

Pratatp kangni (SR 51) (2004): It is long height variety having 110-130cm plant height. It is an early maturing variety which gets mature in 62-68 days. It gives an average yield of 6-7qtl/acre of seeds and 19-20qtl/acre of dry fodder.

Other new varieties: Prasad, Krishnadevaraya, Narasimharaya, Srilakshmi, Si A 3085, Si A 3156 and Suryanandini (Si A 3088) are also new varieties released for Foxtail millet.
 

For foxtail millet cultivation, land is prepared to fine tilth. To bring the soil to fine tilth, one deep ploughing is done which is followed by 2-3 harrowings.

Time of sowing:
Seeds are sown from end week of June to mid-July.

Spacing:
Use line spacing of 25cm.

Sowing depth:
Seeds should be sown 3cm deep.

Method of sowing:
•    Direct sowing
 

Seed rate:
Use seed rate of 3-4 kg/acre.

Seed treatment:
Do seed treatment with Carbendazim @3gm/kg seeds to protect crop from soil borne diseases.
 

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Nutrient Requirement (kg/acre)

Half dose of Nitrogen and full dose of phosphorus is added at the time of sowing and rest of the half dose is added at the time of weeding.

The water requirement of the crop gets fulfilled by rain. In plain fields, deep drains should be made at a distance of 40-45cm so that extra water will drain out of the fields.

For good yield, weeding is done after 30-40 days of sowing.

• Disease and their control:
  

Blast, rust and brown spot: if infestation is observed at the early stages of the crop then spray of 400 gm Mancozeb mixing with 150 ltr of water per acre to get rid of this disease.

Grain smut: To get rid from grain smut disease, before sowing dip the seeds in Carbendazim@2g/kg of seed and spray of 200 ml Tilt @150 ltr of water per acre.

Downy mildew: To get rid from downy mildew disease, before sowing dip the seeds in carbendazim@2g/kg of seed and spray of 400 gm Mancozeb mixing with 150 ltr of water per acre to get rid of this disease.

• Pest and their control:

Army worm, cut worms and leaf scraping beetles: If the infestation of these pests is seen, then spray of Quinalphos@250ml/acre is done.

Harvesting is mainly done in 65-70 days for hay or silage and 75-90 days for grain. It gives an average yield of 6,000-8,000kg/acre of green matter or 1250-1600kg/acre of hay and 330-375kg/acre of grain.