RA 00110.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

apply complex fertilizer at 20-60 kg ha -1 N, in single
or split doses.
Time of sowing. Pearl millet is sown either by
broadcast in Uttar Pradesh, by pora (drilling with a
single tube behind the plow) in Rajasthan, or by kera
(hand sowing behind a plow) in Andhra Pradesh.
The crop is transplanted behind the plow in north
coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Plant populations. Optimum plant populations
are not common: undulating land resulting in dry
and wet patches, uneven sowing depth, poor seeding
emergence due to crusting, low seeding rates which
do not permit thinning and transplanting, and seedling
death due to early breaks in the monsoon all
hamper plant establishment.
Farmers seed at a rate of 2.5 kg ha -1 , with typical
spacing between rows varying from 30 cm in Maharashtra
to 75 cm in Gujarat. The plant-to-plant distance
also varies from 5-20 cm. Farmers barely
maintain 50-75% of the recommended 180 000
plants ha -1 , and poor stands are primarily responsible
for low harvests.
Cropping pattern. Pearl millet is grown in sole,
mixed, or multiple cropping systems. It is grown in
dry areas usually from kharif (rainy season) to kharif
with no intervening crop. In the rainy season, it is
grown mixed with a wide variety of pulses such as
pigeonpea, greengram, blackgram, and horsegram
(Maharashtra and Gujarat), cowpeas (Haryana and
Punjab) and cluster beans (Rajasthan), and a variety
of oilseeds such as groundnut (Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu) and sesame
(Andhra Pradesh).
Rainy season pearl millet is followed by winter or
postrainy cereals (wheat), pulses (chickpea), and oilseeds
(mustard in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab),
cereals (rice in Andhra Pradesh), and oilseeds
(niger, Guizotia abvssinica [1.f.] Cass., in Maharashtra).
Cultural practices. Hand weeding is done in many
states to the extent family labor permits. Hoeing is
done in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh once
or twice, depending on weed growth, 3-6 weeks after
sowing.
Diseases and pests. Pests and diseases are not
common on local varieties. Control measures are
therefore not practiced by farmers.
Harvesting and threshing. After maturity, pearl
millet plants are cut to ground level, sun dried,
bundled, and stacked. Threshing is done manually
or by animal power in most states, but tractors are
used in Haryana and Punjab. The grain is cleaned of
plant debris by winnowing, and stored in containers
of earth, wood, jute, etc.
Utilization. Almost all the grain is used for local
human consumption, but the excess is sold in local
markets. Fodder is used to feed animals or occasionally
for roofing, fencing, and fuel.
Food Uses
Pearl millet is an indispensable food for millions
inhabiting the semi-arid and arid tropics, and is
more important in the diet of the poor.
Flour, grits, and whole grains of pearl millet are
used to prepare staple foods like unleavened flat
bread, cooked whole grains (called rice), and thin
and thick porridge. Several other preparations use
only pearl millet or blends with wheat, rice, or
pulses. Differences in interstate preparations are
discussed by Pushpamma and Chittemma Rao
(1981).
Unleavened flat bread, called roti or chapati, is the
most common preparation in millet growing areas.
Finely ground millet flour is made into a firm dough
with water, rolled into balls, flattened into a thin or
thick bread between the hands or on a stone, and
open baked on a shallow frying pan.
To make thin porridge, flour is mixed with water
(1:4), boiled, and consumed with buttermilk and
seasoned with jaggery (unrefined brown sugar) or
salt. Sometimes pearl millet flour is mixed with finger
millet flour. In thick porridge, the grits, obtained
by dry or wet grinding, are first cooked in water (1:2
or 3), and the flour is later added to thicken the
mixture. Sometimes the dehulled grain is cooked in
water (1:3) like paddy rice.
Dry pearl millet grain can be popped in hot sand.
The pops are sometimes eaten with powdered sugar
or jaggery. Deep fried snacks can also be made from
pearl millet. The grain is ground to a paste, flattened
into rounds, and deep fried in oil to make puris. This
paste is sometimes mixed with jaggery syrup, flattened
into rounds, and deep fried to make sweet preparations.
In another preparation, called hodge-podge,
pearl millet grains are mixed with split pulses and
cooked like rice. It is called kichri in north India.
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