RA 00110.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

Potential and Prospects of Pearl Millet as a Crop for Intensive Agriculture in Gujarat
(Potentiel et perspectives de la Culture intensive du mil au Gujarat)
J.C. Patel
College of Agriculture, Junagadh, Gujarat 362 001, India;
H.R. Dave
Gujarat Agricultural University, Jamnagar, Gujarat 361 006, India;
and
D . D . Malavia
College of Agriculture, Junagadh, Gujarat 362 001, India,
Pearl millet is a very important food crop in Gujarat, occupying an area of 1.44 million ha and producing 1.61
million t of grain with an average yield of 1430 kg ha -1 (1983-84). Pearl millet is one of the important summer
season crops, occupying 0.13 million ha producing 0.23 million t with an average yield of 1800 kg ha -1
(1983-84). Pearl millet-based farming systems are found in different agroclimatic zones of Gujarat e.g., north
and south Saurashtra, middle Gujarat, north Gujarat and the northwest zone. The cropping intensities where
pearl millet is included in intensive cultivation may vary from 200-300%. A 200% cropping intensity is found in
middle and north Gujarat, north and south Saurashtra and the northwest zone. In north Gujarat, north and
south Saurashtra and the northwest zone, 300% cropping intensities are employed. Pearl millet-wheat-fodder
maize cropping sequence is profitable followed by groundnut-wheat-mung. The area under summer pearl
millet has been decreasing over the last 3 years because of an increase in dry season groundnut.
The Potential of Pearl Millet as a Grain Crop in the Central Great Plains of the USA
(Potentiel du mil en tant que culture a grain dans les grandes plaines centrales des
Etats-Unis)
W.D. Stegmeier, B. Khaleeq, and T.L. Harvey
Kansas State University, Fort Hays, Experiment Station, Kansas 67601, USA
The conversion of tropically adapted pearl millets to a dwarf grain crop adapted to mechanized farming in the
Central Great Plains area of the USA started in 1969 at Kansas State University (KSU). We have shown that
pearl millet has a grain yield potential that may equal grain sorghum on silt loam soils and may exceed
sorghum yields on the sandy soil types in Kansas.
I f grain-type pearl millet becomes a crop in the Great Plains it is anticipated that most of the production will
be utilized as an ingrediant in feed rations by the cattle, swine and poultry industries. Several years may elapse
before millet grain is accepted in the USA food market where wheat, maize, rice, and oats are the preferred
cereals.
Livestock feeding trials conducted at the Fort Hays station indicate millet grain is at least 1% more efficient
than sorghum grain for fattening beef animals and 10% better than sorghum in growing rations for calves.
Swine feeding trials at the main station at KSU show millet may be substituted for maize on a unit for unit
basis. However, trials with laying hens show a reduction in egg yield with high levels of millet grain in the
ration. We expect to see increases in efficiency with additional experience in processing methods and ration
formulations.
Progress is being made in breeding for improved stand establishment, low temperature tolerance, and
lodging resistance. Measurements of over 200 inbred lines indicated that significant variation occurs in length
of seedling mesocotyis and coleoptiles; the ranges were 52-167 mm for mesocotyl, 14-30 mm for coleoptile, and
316