Bajra

Introduction

• Scientific name: Pennisetum typhoides.
• Common name: Pearl millet, African millet.
• Quick growing, short duration fodder crop taking about 50-60 days to feed animal.
• Owing to high tillering, drought and heat tolerance, high photosynthetic efficiency and its widely adaptability to various soil types.
• Tolerant to saline sodic condition than jowar.
• Fodder is free from prussic acid and oxalic acids are within safe limits.

Climate:

• Requires warm and dry weather with intermittent showers of rain, followed by bright sunshine.
• Cultivation is restricted to areas receiving rainfall from 250-800 mm.
• Can withstand moisture stress condition and starts vigorous growth even with light showers of 25-30 nm.

Plant characteristics:

• Erect and tall grass growing upto 1-2.5 meter.
• Stems are solid with primary, secondary and sometimes tertiary branches.
• Tillers regenerate quickly after defoliation.
• Inflorescence is hairy.
• Root system is shallow and aerial rooting takes place to provide support against lodging of the stems.

Soil condition:

• Can be grown on alluvial sandy soils to red and medium black soils.
• Seed can germinate even under low moisture conditions.
• Field should be drained as water stagnation can be harmful.
• Acid, alkali and low-lying areas should be avoided to ensure good establishment and growth.

Seed-bed preparation

• Don’t respond to intensive or deep cultivation.
• Just enough cultivation may be given to uproot the weeds and prepare a fine and firm seed-bed.
• In heavy soils, harrowing rather than ploughing can may be done so that the soil is stirred to the minimum depth.

Sowing time:

• March-April in terai and foot hills.
• June-July as rain fed crop.

Sowing method, spacing and seed rate

• Seeds are sown by drilling or behind plough .
• Seedlings prepared in the nursery can be transplanted with the break of monsoon.
• Line spacing of 30-40 cm with a good irrigation facilities and fertile soils.
• In dry lands, the inter-row spacing can be increased to 60 cm.
• For drilling, 10-12 kg seeds/ha is enough, which could be about 12-15 kg/ha in case sown behind plough.
• 15-20 kg/ha in case of broadcasting.
• Dribbling requires 5-8 kg seeds/ha.

Crop mixture

• Can be grown in mixture with cowpea, velvet bean, green gram, and even with sunhemp.

Manuring

• 20t FYM/ha before sowing followed by 60-70 kg urea/ha; 125 kg superphosphate and 35-40 kg MOP/ha at sowing.
• 5 kg zinc sulphate per hectares ensures good growth for zinc deficit areas.
• High yielding varieties may be sprayed with 2% urea @ 15020 kg/ha for improving the protein content.
• In case of two-cutting, the second crop may be fertilized with 40-45 kg urea/ha about a week after harvesting the first crop.

Harvesting and yield:

• Harvested at the boot leaf stage or immediately after a few plants have flowered.
• Should not be delayed beyond 50% flowering stage as there is a sharp decline in the crude protein, and rapid increase in the crude fiber content of the fodder.
• Yields 150-200 qt green fodder/ha with low rates of fertilization.
• 700 qt/ha from multi-cut management system with dry matter content of about 18-20% and crude protein content of 10%.