Proso Millet or Cheena Cultivation; A Complete Information Guide

May 27, 2021May 3, 2023 Agrovista 1 Comment

Table of Contents

Proso Millet or Cheena Cultivation; A Complete Information Guide

Introduction
Cheena or proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) belongs to the family Poaceae It is an important minor millet grown in India Proso millet is an erect herbaceous annual that grows up to a height of 45 cms Proso crop is able to evade drought by its quick maturity. Being a short-duration crop (60-90 days) with relatively low water requirement. this escapes the drought period and, therefore, offers better prospects for intensive cultivation in dryland areas.

Under unirrigated conditions, cheena is generally grown during Kharif season but in areas where irrigation facilities are available, this is profitably grown as a summer catch crop in high-intensity rotations.

Cheena probably originated in India. and it is spread from India to other growing parts of the world.

Cheena is one of the oldest grain crops and is grown in many parts of the world known by different names such as broom corn millet, hog millet, Hershey millet, proso millet or common millet, etc.

In India, cheena is largely grown in Madhya Pradesh, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.

Common Names of Proso Millet

English : Proso Millet
Bengali : Cheena
Gujarati: Cheno
Hindi: Chena; Barri
Kannada : Baragu

Nutrient Value of Proso Millet or Cheena;

100 gms of proso millet contains —

Nutrient	Value	Nutrient	Value
Moisture	8.7 g	Magnesium	114 g
Protein	11 g	Potassium	195mg
Fat	0.7 g	Phosphorus	285 g
Fiber	8.5 g	Vitamin C	1.6 mg
Carbohydrate	72.8 g	Vitamin B3	4.72 mg
Calories	378 K cal.	Vitamin B5	0.85 mg
Calcium	8.0 g	Vitamin B6	0.38 mg
Iron	3.0 g	Vitamin B9	0.85 mg

Grains of cheena are used in different ways as cooked grain, flour for making “chapaties’, parched grains, etc. It can be used in making kheer. Cheena makes a good poultry feed also. The straw is good fodder for cattle.

Climatic Requirements for Proso Millet or Cheena Crop;

Proso millet or Cheena is a crop of warm climate. It is extensively cultivated in warm regions of the world. This crop has high resistance to drought and can be easily cultivated in the region where there is scanty rainfall. Proso millet can withstand water stagnation conditions up to some extent. It is a hardy crop that completes its life span in a short span of time.

Soil Requirements for Proso millet or Cheena Crop;

Proso millet or Cheena can be grown both in rich and poor soils, having variable textures, ranging from sandy loam to clays of black cotton soils. coarse sands are not suited for cheena cultivation. Well-drained loam or loam soils free from tiny stones and rich in organic matter content are ideal for cheena cultivation.

Important Varieties of Prosomillet or Cheena Crop ;

Important Varieties of Proso Millet	Suitable for
Co-5, TNAU 151, TNAU 164, TNAU 145, TNAU 202, CO 4, K2, CO 3,CO 2, GPUP 21, GPUP 8	Tamil Nadu
PRC 1, TNAU 145, 164, 151, CO 4	Uttrakhand
GPUP 8 and GPUP 21, TNAU 145, 164	Karnataka
BR-7, TNAU 164, 145, PR 18	Bihar
Sagar, Nagarjuna, CO 4, CO 3	Andhra Pradesh

Rotation and Mixed Cropping;

Proso millet or Cheena fits well in low, as well as high-intensity rotations:

a) For Low rainfall areas ;

1) Cheena-wheat/barley/gram
2) Cheena-lahi taramira

b) For Irrigated Areas;

1) Maize-potato-cheena

2) Maize–wheat-cheena
3) Maize–toria-wheat-cheena

4) Paddy–wheat–cheena
Field Preparation for Proso millet or Cheena Cultivation ;
Soon after harvesting the previous crop, the field should be ploughed to expose the soil to the sun and enable it to retain more moisture. With the onset of the monsoon, the land should be harrowed two to three times and then finally leveled. When it is being grown during summer, one irrigation should be given prior to land preparation. As soon as the soil ready for cultivation conditions, the seedbed should be prepared by running harrow or desi plough thrice followed by planking. Proso Millet Cheena requires a very firm and clean seedbed but it poorly respond to deep ploughing.

Seed and Sowing of Proso Millet or Cheena Crop;

seed should be treated with organo-mercurial compounds like Agrosan G.N. or Ceresan at the rate of 2.5 g per kg of seed before sowing.
(1) Time of Sowing
As a Kharif crop, cheena should be sown in the first fortnight of July with the onset of monsoon rains and as a summer crop, it should be sown by the middle of April. During summer, it would be desirable to sow cheena as soon as the harvesting of the Rabi crop is over.
(2) Seed Rate and Method of Sowing

Cheena can be sown by broadcasting or by drilling seeds in furrows 3-4 centimeters deep. Row-to-row distance should be kept at 25 centimeters and plant-to-plant at 10 centimeters. Line sowing ensures better germination, cuts down seed requirements, and facilitates intercultural operations Depending upon the method of sowing, 8-12 kg seed is required for sowing one hectare of land.

Manures and Fertilizers Requirement;

Proso Millet or Cheena being a short-duration crop requires a relatively fewer amount of nutrients compared to other cereals crops. To achieve a good crop, the fertilizer recommendations are as follows —-.

under irrigated conditions; Apply 40-60 kg nitrogen, 30 kg P, and 20 kg K per hectare. Apply 50% of the nitrogen and a whole amount of phosphorus and potash as a basal dose at the time of crop sowing. The remaining 50% of nitrogen should be applied at the time of first irrigation.

Under rainfed conditions, the fertilizer dose is reduced to half of the irrigated crop.

If organic manure is available, it may be added to the soil about a month before sowing at the rate of 5 to 10 tonnes per hectare.

Water Management in Proso Millet or Cheena Crop ;

Proso millet or Cheena sowed during Kharif season, generally does not require any irrigation. But, at tillering stage, if a dry condition prevails for a long time then one irrigation must be given to enhance the yields.

Summer crop, however, needs 2 to 4 irrigations depending upon soil type and climatic conditions. Provide the first irrigation 25-30 days after sowing and the second irrigation about 40-45 days after sowing. Due to the shallow root system of Proso millet, heavy irrigation is not advisable.

Weed Control in Proso Millet or Cheena Crop ;

For getting high yield and minimizing loss of soil moisture and nutrients, the field should be kept weed-free for up to 35 days’ stage Two weedings at an interval of 15-20 days would help control it weeding may be done with a hand hoe or wheel hoe.

Pest and Diseases of Proso Millet or Cheena Crop;

a) Diseases Management
Head smut (Sphacelotheca destruens) is a common disease of cheena The affected panicles become elongated and thickened. The rupture before harvest. This is a seed-borne disease and can be by treating seeds with organo-mercurial compounds like Ceresa rate of 3 g per kg of seed or hot water treatment (soaking Seeds water at 55°C for 7-12 minutes).
Sometimes bacterial streak is also noticed. It can be controlled by the seed treatment with 5% magnesium arsenate at the rate of one gm of the chemical in one kg of seed.
b) Insect Pests Management;
Among insects, shoot fly is important for this crop. Shoot fly damages the crop in the seedling stage.

Apply 15 kg of Thimet granules per hectare in the soil at the time of field preparation. This fly can also be controlled by spraying the crop with 0.15 % Endosulfan 35 EC. Two sprays at an interval of 15 days would be enough to control this fly.

Harvesting and Threshing of Proso Millet or Cheena Crop;

Cheena is ready for harvest after 65-75 days of sowing in most of the varieties. Harvest the crop when it is about to mature. The seeds in the tip of upper heads ripe and shatter before the lower seeds and later panicles get mature. Therefore, the crop should be harvested when about two-thirds of the seeds are ripe. The crop is threshed with hand or bullocks.

The yield of Proso Millet or Cheena Crop;

With an improved agronomic practice, it is possible to harvest 20-25 of grain and 50-60 quintals of straw per hectare.

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