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Graminae
Common names
Finger millet (Mali), kurrakan millet or koracan millet, ragi,
nachni (India), African millet, rapoko (South Africa), dagusa (Ethiopia).
Description
A more robust annual grass than E. indica with thicker, heavier
spikes, sometimes curved at the tips and assuming a brownish colour when
mature. It differs from E. indica in that the rachilla is tough, whereas
in E. indica it disarticulates, at least above the glumes. The lemmas are
also obliquely ovate and obtuse whereas in E. indica they are lanceolate,
oblong and acute (Gardner, 1952). The grain is globose, dark brown, smooth
in some varieties and at other times somewhat rugose, with a depressed
black hilum and slightly flattened on one side.
Distribution
Native to Africa and Asia.
Season of growth
Summer.
Altitude range
Sea-level to 2 000 m but mostly at 900 m in East Africa.
Rainfall requirements
It is a low-rainfall plant, often interplanted with maize and
sorghum in Africa so that if the normal rains fail a crop of finger millet
has a good chance of maturing. It can tolerate a rainfall as low as 130
mm if it is well distributed (Göhl, 1975), but prefers 900 mm.
Drought tolerance
It tolerates dry spells in the early stages of growth and then
grows rapidly.
Land preparation for establishment
Seed-bed preparation should be thorough because of the small
seed, and because it cannot stand weed competition. Often brush is burned
on the site to provide ash.
Sowing methods
In India seedlings are raised in nurseries and transplanted
when 10-12 cm tall into rows 40-45 cm apart, with 15-20 cm between plants.
Sowing depth and cover
Being a small seed it is usually surface sown. Rolling after
sowing would improve germination.
Sowing time and rate
It is sown early in the season to spread the labour over various
crops in East Africa. Use 35 kg/ha broadcast and 6-9 kg/ha in rows 3033
cm apart (plants thinned to 5 cm).
Vigour of growth and growth
rhythm
It matures in four to five months. Harvested in October and
November in India.
Seed yield
Usually 450-900 kg/ha, but up to 4 500 kg/ha have been obtained.
Cultivars
The variety Engeryi was released from the breeding station
located at EAAFRO in 1969. It has good malting characteristics and foodgrain
qualities (Peters, 1973).
Diseases
Head blast caused by Piricularia oryzae, which also attacks
rice, can cause damage. Resistant varieties are being developed.
Main attributes
It can be stored as grain for long periods without insecticides.
The seeds are small, they dry out quickly, and insects cannot live inside
them. This is important in humid Uganda where maize is difficult to store.
Called a "famine" crop because it could be stored for lean years. Used
as a first crop in new land in Kenya and Tanzania.
Ability to compete with
weeds
Poor. It is mostly hand weeded to remove Eleusine indica and
E. africana in Uganda. These are hard to distinguish from finger millet
in the young stage.
Pests
There are few pests, but birds may cause damage when the grain
is in the soft dough stage.
Palatability
The straw is used as low-quality roughage in India and Uganda.
Response to photoperiod
Short to medium day lengths are necessary for flowering (Evans,
Wardlaw & Williams, 1964).
Natural habitat
Roadsides and banks naturalized from cultivation.
Tolerance to flooding
It will not tolerate flooding.
Fertilizer requirements
125 kg N/ha is recommended in Uganda, broadcast when the plants
are 15 cm high.
Genetics and reproduction
2n=36 (Fedorov, 1974). A breeding unit to serve the whole of
East Africa is located at the East African Agricultural and Forestry Research
Organization (EAAFRO), Serere, Uganda.
Seed production and harvesting
It seeds well, and as the straw is very tough the heads are
cut off by hand mower in Uganda, but combine harvesters can be used in
large fields. In India it is threshed under bullocks' feet.
Economics
In Uganda and west Kenya the grass is usually fried a little
before being mixed with dried cassava chips. The two are then ground into
a flour which is used for making "ugali" or "uji". The grass is also used
for brewing. Straw is used for thatching, granaries and food containers
(Acland, 1971). It forms the staple food for 50 percent of the population
of Uganda, especially in areas of poor soil and low rainfall. In India
it is grown in high-rainfall areas where the soil is too light for rice
and too steep for terracing. In Fiji it is used as food and in India the
flour is made into a cooling drink called "ambli" and the green heads parched
and eaten as "hurda".
Further reading
Peters, 1973; Solomon, 1953.
Seed germination
The grain can be preserved for 50 years in dry grain pits (Solomon,
1953).
Main disadvantages
It has a low yield capacity and requires much labour at all
stages for seed-bed preparation, weeding, bird scaring, harvesting
and threshing.
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