Good tillering, drought tolerant, widely adaptable,
suitable for Kharif and Rabi.
Ratnagiri
110-115
30-40
Good tillering, suitable for kharif and Rabi.
Gauthami
115-120
30-40
Good tillering, blast tolerant
Padmavathi
110-115
30-40
Good tillering, suitable for kharif and Rabi.
Suraj (VR – 520)
95-100
20-25
Early variety suitable for punasa season.
Saptagiri
110-115
30-40
Good tillering with good lengthy fingers, blast
tolerant.
Maruthi
90
25
Early variety, which can escape terminal drought.
Season
It is grown as rainfed crop in kharif and as an irrigated
crop in Rabi season.
Soils
Finger millet comes up well in both light sandy
soils and heavy soils.
Land preparation
Good tilth is necessary for sowing finger milet crop.
Ploughing and harrowing should be done alternately.
Seeds and Sowing
Ragi is grown by raising nurseries and transplanting
the seedlings in the main field.
Nursery should be grown on raised beds with proper drainage.
10cents of nursery is sufficient to transplant one hectare of main field.
A seed of 5kg ha-1 is sufficient.
Transplantation
21 days old seedlings for short duration varieties and
30 days old ones for medium and long duration varieties are ideal.
Spacing
Short duration – 15cm between the rows and 10cm within
the row. Long and medium duration 15cm between the rows and 15cm within
row.
Manure and fertilisers
Manure / Fertilisers
kg/ha
No. of split doses
Stages
Direct sown
Farm Yard Manure
10,000
1
Last ploughing
Nitrogen
40
1
Basal (Before sowing)
Phosphorus
40
1
Basal (Before sowing)
Potash
30
1
Basal (Before sowing)
Transplanted
Farmyard Manure
10,000
1
Before transplanting
Nitrogen
60
2
30kg before translating and 30kg one month after
transplanting
Phosphorus
30
1
Before transplanting
Potash
20
1
Before transplanting
Irrigation
Depending upon the type of the soil, irrigate the crop
whenever necessary.
Hardening of the seedlings, by cutting of irrigation
water after establishment of the seedlings, for a week or 10 days, will
help seedlings to put on healthy and vigorous growth. Adequate moisture
is necessary at flowering and grain filling stages.
Intercultivation
Keep the field free from weeds.
Weeding and hand-hoeing should be done three weeks
after transplanting.
Chemical weed control
Fluchloralin : 1.0kg a.i/ha one week before sowing.
Plant Protection
Treat the seed with thiram @ 3g/kg of seed.
Spraying of any copper fungicide or carbendazim @ 1g
l-1 nursery at 7 to 10 days before transplanting will be
a preventive measure against blast.
