Nallamala / Prasad It matures in 75-80 days with an average yield
of 2.0-2.5 t ha-1. Suitable for both black and red soils.
Krishnadevaraya It can give, on an average 2.25 to 2.7 t ha-1
of grain and matures in 80-85 days. Tall, tillering and suitable for
both black and red soils.
Narasimharaya It matures in 80-85 days with an average yield of
2.5 to 3.0t ha-1. Tall tillering and suitable for both black
and red soils.
Lepakshi It is ideal for red soils of Anantapur district. It gives,
on an average 1.75 - 2.25 t ha-1 of grain in 80-85 days.
Suitable for shallow alfisols and low rainfall areas.
Srilakshmi It matures in 85 days. Average yield is 2.8 - 3.2 t
ha-1. Suitable for late sown conditions, tolerant to downy
mildew, rust and moisture stress. Fodder is palatable to cattle.
2. Seeds and sowing
Well prepared seed bed is necessary for seed germination.
Optimum seed rate is 5kg ha-1. Traditional 6 typed seed drill
(types 26.5cm apart) can be used for drilling the seed at about 2cm
depth.
Blade harrow should be worked to cover the seed and soil
consolidation.
Optimum time for seeding in red soils is onset of monsoon
rains and in black soils July is the optimum time of sowing.
During Rabi the crop can be sown from December to January.
Thinning should be done within the rows before 15 days
of sowing to maintain a spacing of about 5-8cm between the plants.
If necessary, gap filling may be done by transplanting
the seedlings on a rainy day, such that entire crop comes to maturity
uniformly.
3. Nutrient Management
About 10t ha-1 of FYM once in two to three
years is recommended
. It should be incorporated into the soil during preparatory
tillage.
The crop responds to 40kgN ha-1. Half of
the N(20kgha-1) along with 20kg ha-1 of P2O5
is recommended as basal dose before sowing and the remaining N 20-25
days after sowing in weed free crop, when there is adequate available
soil moisture.
4. Interculture
Traditional intercultivation implements (blade harrows)
can be used once or twice, depending on weed intensity when the crop
is about 25-30 days old. Weeds within the row may be removed by hand
weeding.
5. Cropping systems
Coriander, bengalgram or mustard can be grown from October
after harvest of setaria in rainfed vertisols.
Considerable time gap between harvest of setaria and
seeding of these Rabi crops allows land preparation.
Early duration Rabi jowar or sunflower, without land
preparation, can be grown after setaria harvest. Setaria – redgram intercropping
in 5:1 and intercropping the same with groundnut in 2:1 ratio are more
remunerative than sole crops of either of these two.
Armyworm and other foliage pests : Spray endosulfan @ 2ml l-1
or chlorpyriphos 2ml l-1 or quinalphos 2ml l-1
or dust endosulfan 4% or Carbaryl 5% or parathion 2% at 20kg ha-1
preferably in the evening hours for effective control.
Termites and root grub : Soil treatment with phorate 10G @ 10kg ha-1
at last ploughing.
7. Disease Management
Downy mildew : Field sanitation. Seed treatment with metalaxyl at
2g kg-1 seed followed by spraying of the same chemical at
1g 1-1 (or) Seed treatment with metalaxyl @ 2g kg-1
of seed coupled with one spray of mancozeb @ 2.5g l-1.
Blast : Spray edifenphos @ 1ml l-1 or carbendazim @ 1g
l-1 twice starting from first symptom appearance at 7-10
days interval.
