Common millet(Panicum miliaceum)

Introduction•Also known as, Proso millet, hog millet or white millet•origin is in China, East Asia and India•belongs among the oldest cultivated crops•Cultivated in dry zone•capable of giving grain yields up to 4 tons in about 60

days

Kingdom :   Plantae – Plants

Subkingdom   : Tracheobionta – Vascular plants

Superdivision   : Spermatophyta – Seed plants

Division  :  Magnoliophyta – Flowering plantsClass  :  Liliopsida – Monocotyledons

Subclass   : Commelinidae

Order  :  Cyperales

Family  :  Poaceae – Grass family

Genus   : Panicum L. – panicgrass P

Species   : Panicum miliaceum L. – proso millet P

carbohydrate Protein Fat mineral moiture fiber calary0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

carbohydrate; 59.75

Protein; 11.43 Fat; 3.08 mineral; 4.98moiture; 11.81 fiber; 8.95

calary; 312.4

Nutritive value

nutritive value

Morphology•Stem is erected and divided on internodes•Leaf blades are more or less hairy on both surfaces and the edges•They are 1 to 2 cm wide and up to 30 cm long• Leaf sheaths are densely hairy and have overlapping margins•grain is round oval or elongated covered with hulls all around•can be white, yellow, grey, red and brown•inflorescence are opened, clustered and compact•are more uniform in maturity•has a shallow root system

Economic value•less important both economically and as a food•due to poor yields and less popularity as food or feed•Food -Groats (dehusked grains) are the basic product

easy to digestible with high nutritional value• Fodder

Millet grain is high quality feed for poultry, pigs and fish ,Green feed and millet straw have high nutritional value

•

•OtherPillows filled up with millet husks are very interesting and exclusive products

•Medicinal value used in indigenous medicinespecially used in snake poisoning

Recommended varieties

•MS 1491•AC 254•V62

Ecological Requirements

•requires light and worm soils

•Deep,loamy,fertile,rich in organic matter are preferred

•Well drained soil with adequate moisture

•emerging plants are very sensitive to cold weather

•suitable for growing in yala season with the onset of the rain

•Can be planted in maha season•So it can be harvested before depletion of soil moisture•Duration of growing season varies from 60 to 110 days

Cultivation

•can be grown as a main crop or intercrop•The best integration in crop rotation is after root or leguminous

crops•Pre-sowing preparation must ensure well-firmed seedbed•First week of october for successful growth•timely cultivation reduce the pest problems

Spacing

•can be planted/seeded at 30cm apart and at two weeks to thin down to 7.5-10.0 cm distance within the row

•5-6 kg of seed are required for one hectare of cultivation

Weed Control• Weeds could be controlled by manual methods such as

weeding and application pre and post emergent weed killers

• Crops need to be maintained weed free at least until flowering stage

Irrigation•During dry periods, irrigations are required every 4-7 day depending

on the severity of the drought and type of soil

Diseases and Insect pest control

•Minor millets are less affected by diseases

Pre – Harvest Operations•One of the major pre - harvest operations is the field

inspection to ensure uniform ripening of the crop

•If ripening is not uniform in the field, selective harvesting may be done to pick the ripe heads that may start shattering, leaving the unripe heads for the next round of harvesting

Harvesting•Normally it is done by removing plant with sickles or small hand

knives

•This is sometimes preceded by breaking the plant by hand

•Some farmers practice by pulling up the entire plant by the roots as soon as the grain is ripe in order to avoid excessive shattering, and is threshed immediately

Threshing

•Threshing of millet is done manually

Drying

•On mats laid down on the sun, or plastic sheets

Cleaning•Cleaning refers to separation of contaminants from produce, and

complete removal of the contaminants so that the cleaned produce is free from re-contamination

•By winnowing, common millet can be cleaned

Storage

•Millets have excellent storage properties and can be kept for up to 4 -5 years in simple storage facilities

Group members

•R.P.G.Chathuranga UWU/EAG/11/0032•V.P.A.Dilrukshi UWU/EAG/11/0040•N.U.M.Perera UWU/EAG/11/0041

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