Millets are one of the oldest foods known to humans but they were discarded in approbation of wheat and rice with urbanization and industrialization. Millets are low water consuming crops. The rainfall requirement for sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet is less than 25% of sugarcane and banana and 30% that of rice. Finger millet is called as the powerhouse of health benefiting nutrients as it has highest amount of calcium (344 mg/100 g of finger millet), iron (3.9 g/100 g of finger millet) and minerals (2.7 g/100 g of finger millet).

1. Presentation on production
technology of Finger millet
(Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.)
By:- Jiwan Paudel

2. Introduction
• Finger millet is an annual plant widely grown as a
cereal
• Originally native to the Ethiopian highlands
• Cultivate in more than 25 countries in;
– Africa (eastern and southern)
– Asia (from Near East to Far East)
• As a staple food grain
• The major producers are India(85%), Sri-lanka
Nepal, Uganda

3. Morphology

4. Nutrient Composition of Finger Millet

5. Scientific classification
Kingdom : Plantae
Order : Poales
Family : Poaceae
Genus : Eleusine
Species : coracana
Botanical name: Eleusine coracana

6. In India
• Area of production:1.89 million hectares
• Production : 1.18 million tonnes
• Average yield :1.6-3.3 Tonnes/ha
• Karnataka accounts for 56.21% and 59.52% of area
and production of finger millet
• Tamil Nadu (9.94% and 18.27%)
• Uttarakhand (9.40% and 7.76%)
• Maharashtra (10.56% and 7.16%)

7. Ecological Requirements
• Climatic conditions
– Finger millet grows best with medium
rainfall
– Annual temperature range of 11 to 27°C – Low relative
humidity
• Soil – well-drained soils silt loams
• grows well on - Reddish brown earth - Calcic red yellow latasols
- Sandy regosols
– Soil pH of 5.0 - 8.2

8. Land preparation
• Usually planted without land preparation
• Soil is worked to a fine tilth with a disc harrow
for higher yield
• Upland seeds should be planted in moist soil and
protected them biological hazards

10. Varieties

11. Seed rate Rainfed condition

12. Seed rate in irrigated condition

13. Nutrient in rainfed

14. Nutrient in Irrigated

15. Method of application of fertilizer

16. Irrigation
•Irrigate the field once in every 4-5 days until
seedlings are establish
•During dry period supplementary irrigation
is provided at weekly interval's
•Raise beds or the basin systems can be
adapted for irrigation

17. Weed control
•Finger Millet seedlings are slow growing and require a
weed free environment for 45 days to develop vigorous
plants
• Seedlings in rows facilitates weed control
•Hand weed twice on 10th and 20th day after
transplanting
• Major weeds
Striga spp. Cynodon dactylon
Eleusine indica
• Neburon at 1 kg a.i./ha pre-em
• 2,4-D at 1 kg a.i./ha post-em
• 2 hand weedings

18. Harvesting
•Finger millet matures in about 3-5 months time
•80 % of the ears become brown in colour can be
harvested
•Most labor intensive operation of the production
•The ripe heads are individually picked with knife

20. Cont’d…
• Dried in the sun on a clean hard ground
• Good care is needed to prevent any physical
mixing during harvesting and drying
• When heads are dried enough, then they can be
threshed and winnowed
• Average yield - 2350 kg/ha

21. Average income

22. Storage
• Finger millet is piled in heaps for a few days and
stored as heads
• If kept dry, it can store for as long as five years
• During storage, insect pests do not attack it
• At onset of rain, the grain springs to life and can
be ready to harvest in just 45 days

23. Pests
Shootfly Atherigona
variasoccata
Muscidae Diptera
Stem borer Chilo partellus Crambidae Lepidoptera
Pink stem borer Sesamia
inferens
Noctuidae Lepidoptera
Control:- (Diazinone , Furadan)

24. Diseases
•Bacterial Blast (Pyricularia spp) :
Plants are affected by blast mainly during
maha season
Symptoms –
Diamond shaped, greyish white lesions bordered
by a brown margin develop on leaves

25. Cont’d
•Empty fingers and broken pedicels
•Seedlings may be killed under epidemic condition
Control
- Avoid dense plant population
- Avoid heavy N fertilizer
- Chemical control (Benomyl, Edifenphos )

26. Uses
• Commonly cooked and made into a porridge to
accompany other foods
• Used in common food stuffs, such as idly and
laddu
• Grain may used in the brewing of alcoholic
beverages
• Millet straw can be used as an animal feed

27. Medicinal values
• Great source to extract energy
• Helps in bone development
• For losing weight
• Aid for diabetics
• Treatment of anaemia
• Reduces blood cholesterol
• Relaxes body

28. SWOT analysis

29. • Reference:-
Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn.) Production System: Status, Potential,
Constraints and Implications for Improving Small Farmer’s Welfare
S. Sakamma, K. B. Umesh, M. R. Girish, S. C. Ravi, M. Satishkumar
&Veerabhadrappa Bellundagi.
doi:10.5539/jas.v10n1p162