Cultivation of Pearl Millet or Bajra; Complete Information Guide

Important Health Benefits of Pearl millet or Bajra ; 

• Pearl millet is very good source of energy.
• It promotes heart health.
• Pearl millet is gluten-free
• Pearl Millet intake helps in reducing weight.
• it helps in digestion disorders.
• it may help in preventing cancer.
• Pearl Millet controls blood sugar levels and hence good for diabetes.

Climatic Requirements for Pearl Millet or Bajra Cultivation;

• Pearl millet or bajra is a rapidly growing warm-weather crop suitable for areas with 40-75 cm of annual rainfall.
• It has a high degree of resistance to drought conditions. During the vegetative growth of the crop, moist weather is useful. 
• The rainfall at flowering time is harmful as it washes off the pollen and consequently, there is poor seed setting.
• The crop does best under conditions of light showers followed by bright sunshine. 
• Usually, bajra is grown in those areas where it is not possible to grow sorghum because of high temperatures and low rainfall. 
• Bajra is grown as a Kharif crop in northern India but with irrigation, it can be grown as a summer crop in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Punjab 
• The best temperature for the growth of bajra is between 20 and 28°C.

Rotations and Mixed Cropping with Pearl Millet or Bajra;

In northern India many rotations of crops involving bajra are feasible Crops like wheat, barley, gram, pea, potato, and toria can be grown after harvesting of bajra in irrigated areas. Some of the most important crop rotations are given below:
1. Bajra–barley 

Diseases and Pest Management in Pearl Millet;

a) Disease Management in Pearlmillet;

4)Rust
The disease is seen on both surfaces of leaves. The rust pustules are small, orange, and full of spores. On touching these pustules, one can see orange-colored spores sticking on the fingertips. In later stages, black colored pustules can be seen. In severe infection, leaves are completely dried.
Control Measure;
Spray the crop with 0.2 percent Dithane Z-78 or Captan three to four times to provide good protection.or or Spray Wettable sulphur 2500g / ha Mancozeb 1000g/ha
5)Leaf Blast;
 The symptoms of this disease can be seen on the lower surface in the form of light to dark brown, boat-shaped lesions. Sometimes several spots coalesce and form larger patches. In severe infection, leaves are completely dried.
Control Measure;
The disease can be controlled effectively by two or three sprays of 0.2 percent Zineb.

b) Insect Pests Management in Pear Millet ;

1)Termites;
The pest feeds on the roots and lower portion of the stem of the plant. The attacked plants generally dry up. The pest is more serious in dry areas.
Control Measure;
Apply Chloropyriphos 20 EC @ 1.25 litre/Endosulfan 35 EC @ 2.5 litres along with irrigation water in standing crop as a last resort.
2)White Grub;
This pest is very serious. They damage the root system of young seedlings and as a result, the seedlings die. In the areas where it is a problem, larvae cause major damage resulting in the complete failure of the crop.
Control Measures ;
Mix Thimet 10 G at the rate of 15 kg per hectare or Furadan 3 G at the rate of 30 kg per hectare or Heptachlor 5% dust at the rate of 20 kg per hectare before sowing.
3)Shoot Fly
Shoot fly is a serious pest of bajra in north India. Plants up to three weeks of age are the favorite of the pest. The fly lays eggs on the lower surface of the leaves or near the base of the plants. Within two days or so, the eggs hatch, and the tiny maggots creep down under the leaf sheaths and cut the central growing point of the plant which results in the dead heart’.
Control Measures;
Mix Thimet 10 G at the rate of 15-20 kg per hectare or Furadan 3 G at the rate of 25-30 kg per hectare in the furrows or broadcast and mix properly in soil before sowing.
4)Hairy Ceterpillar 
There are about seven species of hairy caterpillars that feed on the bajra crop. They are all polyphagous and feed on different crops. Among this Bihar hairy caterpillar, red hairy caterpillar, black hairy caterpillar are the major ones. The damage is done in the seedling and early stages of the crop. The adults lay eggs in clusters on the leaves of wild as well as cultivated plants. These eggs hatch within three to four days. The tiny larva feeds gregariously on the same plant for a few days and then move on to other plants and feed voraciously leaving only the veins of the leaves without any green material.
Control Measures;
Folidol 2% dust at the rate of 20-25 kg per hectare to control the young larvae. In the later stages, crop may be sprayed with Thiodan, or Fenitrothion at the rate of 500 litres per hectare. It is sable to mix 2″, detergent powder to the solution for increasing the efficacy of insecticide as it helps in setting the hairs on the body of water caterpillars and allowing more chemical to penetrate to the insect body or Release of Trichogramma chilonis @ 75, 000 perha/week; and spray Endosulfan 35 EC @ 0.1%.
5) Midge Fly 
It is a serious pest of developing grains of bajra. The fly lays eggs in the flowers and the larvae develop on their ovaries, which shrivel and fail to develop into grains. The larvae pupate in the spikelets.
Control Measures ;