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Millet
Scientific name:
Panicum miliaceum
Order/Family:
Cyperales: Poaceae
Local names:
Mawele (Swahili)
Importance:
medium
Pests and Diseases (clicking takes you to the pest and disease pages):
Ergot, Blast, Long smut, Crazy top downy mildew, Stemborers, Millet head miner, Shoot fly, Grasshoppers, Others
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 Geographical distribution indicated in red
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General Information on MilletAgronomic AspectsInformation on Major Millet DiseasesInformation on Major Millet PestsInformation Source Links
Millets refers to a group of annual grasses mainly found in the arid and semiarid regions of the world. These grasses produce small seeded grains and are often cultivated as cereals. The most widely cultivated species are:
- Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum)
- Foxtail millet (Setaria italica)
- Common millet or proso millet (Panicum miliaceum)
- Finger millet (Eleusine coracana)
The husked grain of millet has a slightly nutty flavour and can be eaten whole after roasting or after cooking or boiling like rice. Millet flour is used for making mush, porridge, flat bread or chapatti. The flour is also used for making wine or beer. The grain is a feed for animals. The green plant is used as forage, but the quality of the straw is poor. Brooms are made from the straw. Starch from the grains is used for sizing textiles. Millet plays a vital role as a food security crop especially in semi arid lands of Kenya. Some millet varieties will survive drought conditions where maize crops often fail to reach maturity. The popularity of millet fell for some years due to introduction of maize, wheat and rice, but is again on the rise with millers being able to sell far more than is delivered. Millet is fast becoming a popular baby food as the grains are rich in calcium and have a pleasant flavour. Due to unpredictable rainfall patterns, Kenya has been experiencing frequent maize crop failure (the main staple) leading the Government of Kenya to encourage the production of indigenous, drought tolerant crops like millet.
Climate conditions, soil and water management
Millet is mostly grown in temperate and subtropical regions. It is adapted to conditions that are too hot and too dry, and to soils too shallow and poor for successful cultivation of other cereals. It is tolerant of a very wide temperature range but susceptible to frost. Cultivation occurs up to 3000 m altitude in the Himalayas. In Kenya millet is grown from 0 - 2400 m above sea level. Proso millet has one of the lowest water requirements of all cereals. An average annual rainfall of 200 - 450 mm is sufficient, of which 35 - 40% should fall during the growing period. Most soils are suitable for its cultivation, except coarse sand.Varieties in Kenya
A lot of work has been done to identify improved varieties of millet to be grown under different ecological zones of Kenya. Some recommended varieties and their characteristics:
| Crop | Variety | Maturity (months) |
Grain colour | Grain Yield Potential (bags/acre) |
| Finger millet | "P224" "Gulu E" "KAT/FM/FM-1" "LANET/FM-1" |
4 4 3 4 |
Brown Brown Brown Brown |
10 8 7.5 7 |
| Pearl millet | "KAT/PM-1" "KAT/PRO-1" |
2.5-3 2.5-3 |
Grey Grey |
12 10 |
| Proso millet | "KAT/PRO-1" | 2.5 | Cream | 8 |
| Fox tail millet | "KAT/FOX-1" | 3-4 | Yellow-cream | 8 |
Proso and fox tail millet can be grown in all areas whereas Gulu E does best on coast and moist mid altitude. KAT/FM1 is recommended for semi-arid lowlands and Lanet/FM1 for cold semi arid highlands.
Propagation and planting
Selection of healthy seeds, free from bird and insect damage and diseases, is important to produce vigorous seedlings that could fare well in case of attack by pests or diseases. Prepare seed for sowing by threshing it (if at all stored on the head) and removing all admixtures such as glumes, bits of the rachis and peduncle, etc. This can be done by winnowing and occasionally by sieving. These processes also remove light and small seeds. A fast, easy and efficient method of quality seed selection uses a 10% salt solution to separate good seeds from bad seeds. The salt solution enhances the flotation of light and damaged seeds, fungal spores and light foreign matter. The good and heavy seeds and pebbles drop to the bottom. The floating portion is decanted and discarded and the sunken portion subjected to flotation one or two more times, after which the good seeds at the bottom are rinsed with clean water to remove excess salt. This portion is then sun-dried. After drying, the pebbles are removed by hand picking (DFPV, Niger). Early land preparation is recommended. Millet requires a fine seedbed suitable for small grains, to ensure good germination, plant population density and effective weed control. If tractors or oxen are used to open up land for planting, it is advisable to harrow it after the first ploughing. When jembes (hand hoes) are used for land preparation, farmers are advised tobreak large clods to provide a smooth seedbed. Plant before or at the onset of rains by either drilling in the furrows made by oxen plough or tractor or by using a panga (cutlass) for hand planting in hills.
Spacing and seed rate. If the population is too high at emergence, thin when plants are about 15 cm tall, 2 weeks after emergence. Seed rate (when planted in furrows):
- Finger millet - 3 kg/ha
- Pearl millet - 5 kg/ha
- Fox tail millet - 4 kg/ha
- Proso millet - 4 kg/ha
For sole cropping the following distances should be followed:
- Pearl millet varieties: 15 cm between seeds and 60 cm between rows
- Finger millet, foxtail and Proso millet: 10 cm between seeds and 30 cm between rows.
Husbandry
Millet benefits from intercropping with such legumes such as green gram and cowpeas. It can also be rotated with legume crops to benefit from the soil improvement facilitated by these crops or intercropped with other non-cereal crops. Application of farmyard manure at 8-10 tons/ha is recommended in order to improve the soil organic matter content, moisture retention ability and soil structure. Phosphorous should be applied in the form of rock phosphate. For conventional farmers please use the fertilizer recommendations of the local extension office. Weeding should be done twice, first time 2-3 weeks after emergence and second weeding about two weeks later. Harvesting
Harvest takes place 2-4 months after sowing, when the grain has a moisture content of 14-15%. Avoid delayed harvesting, as the seed shatters easily. If Millet is harvested during the rainy season with high relative humidity, the grain must be dried to 14% moisture content. In households, millet is usually dried above the domestic fire. Millet is threshed immediately after harvest. The grain stores well for up to five years. Sometimes the grain is mixed with ash or slightly baked before storage. Because of its small size, the grain is barely susceptible to insect attack.  |
| Ergot |
| © Reproduced from PEARL MILLET DISEASES - A Compilation of Information of the Known Pathogens of Pearl Millet (http://www.tifton.uga.edu/fat/pearlmilletdiseases.htm) |
Cream to pink sticky "honeydew" droplets ooze out of infected florets on panicles. Within 10 to 15 days, the droplets dry and harden, and dark brown to black sclerotia (fungal fruiting bodies) develop in place of seeds on the panicle. Sclerotia are larger than seed and irregularly shaped, and generally get mixed with the grain during threshing. Conditions favouring the disease are relative humidity greater than 80%, and temperatures between 20 to 30°C. The sclerotia falling on the soil or planted with the seed germinate when the plants are flowering. They produce spores that are wind-borne to the flowers, where they invade the young kernels and replace the kernels with fungal growth. The fungal growth bears millions of tiny spores in a sticky, sweet, honeydew mass. These spores are carried by insects or splashed by rain to infect other kernels.
What to do:
- Plant resistant varieties, where available
- Remove affected panicles
- Avoid planting seeds from infected panicles
- Plough deep
- Rotate with non-cereals preferably with pulses
- Practice good field sanitation.
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| Blast |
| © Reproduced from PEARL MILLET DISEASES - A Compilation of Information of the Known Pathogens of Pearl Millet (http://www.tifton.uga.edu/fat/pearlmilletdiseases.htm) |
Lesions on foliage are elliptical or diamond-shaped, approximately 2.5-3.5 x 1.5-2.5 mm. Lesion centres are grey and water-soaked when fresh but turn brown upon drying. Lesions are often surrounded by a chlorotic halo, which will turn necrotic giving the appearance of concentric rings. The disease is favoured by hot, humid conditions.
What to do:
- Plant resistant varieties, if available
- Practise good field sanitation
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| Long smut (Tolyposporium penicillariae) |
| © Kranz J., Schmutterer H., Koch W. Courtesy of EcoPort, www.ecoport.org |
Immature, green fungal bodies (sori) larger than the seed develop on panicles during grain fill. A single fungal body (sorus) develops per floret. As grain matures, sori change in colour from green to dark brown. Sori are filled with dark spores. Infection takes place at temperature range of between 21 and 31°C, and at relative humidity greater than 80%. The disease is spread by wind-borne spores and rain.
What to do:
- Plant resistant varieties, if available
- Rotate with non-cereals
- Plough deep
- Practise good field sanitation
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| Crazy top downy mildew |
| © DFID Plant Sciences Research Programme (http://www.dfid-psp.org) |
Symptoms often vary as a result of systemic infection. Leaf symptoms begin as chlorosis at the base and successively higher leaves show progressively greater chlorosis. On the lower leaf surface of infected leaves greyish white fungal growth may be observed. Severely infected plants are generally stunted and do not produce panicles. Green ear symptoms result from transformation of floral parts into leafy structures. The disease is prevalent during rainy seasons.
What to do:
- Plant resistant varieties, if available
- Remove diseased plants from the field
- Rotate with pulses
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| Armyworm caterpillar. Mature caterpillars measure up to 40 mm long. |
| © University of Arkansas |
It is usually an occasional pest, but when outbreaks occur damage to millet can be devastating. The caterpillars eat the above-ground parts of the plants leaving only the base of the stem.
What to do:
Monitor regularly field margins, low areas where plants have lodged, beneath plant debris around the base of plants, on the ground, and underneath the plant leaves. Check daily young crops if conditions are known to be favourable to the pest.
Spray Bt or botanicals such as neem and pyrethrum extracts. Spray when caterpillars are small. Once caterpillars are mature (about 30 to 35 mm long) they may have cause serious damage and it may no longer be economical to treat the crop.
For more information on the African armyworm click here.
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| Spotted stemborer (Chilo partellus) |
| © Agricultural Research Council of South Africa. Courtesy of Ecoport (www.ecoport.org) |
Several species of stemborers attack millet including the millet stemborer (Coniesta ignefusalis), the maize stalkborer (Busseola fusca), the spotted stalkborer (Chilo partellus), and the pink stalkborer (Sesamia calamitis).
Stemborer caterpillars bore into stems of millets disrupting the flow of nutrient from the roots to the upper parts of plants. Attack on young millet plants causes damage known as "dead hearts". In older plants the top part of the stem dies as a result of tunnelling by the borers.
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| Active full-grown millet stemborer (Coniesta ignefusalis) larva (feeding and damage) in millet stem. |
| © ICRISAT - International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. www.icrisat.org |
It is the dominant stemborer of millet in the Sahelian zone of Africa, and also attacks sorghum, maize, and wild grasses. Major damage has been reported in West Africa. It has also been found causing considerable damage to millet in Western Eritrea, being considered as the major pest of millets in Eritrea (B. Le Ru, icipe, personal communication). The moths have golden brown forewings. They are active throughout the night and during the day rest on the lower surface of leaves or along stems. Caterpillars are cream-coloured with black spots along the body. However in the dry season, when caterpillars enter in diapause (a resting period) they change colour to pale yellow or uniform cream white. They stay in this resting period from six to seven months, but occasionally for more than a year.
Moths lay eggs between the leafsheat and the stem in batches of 20 to 50 eggs. Caterpillars tunnel in the leafsheats and in the underlying stem. They normally pupate within the stem. Small plants on which eggs are laid may be thoroughly riddle with caterpillars and soon collapse, but in larger plants external symptoms show two to three weeks after stems have been infested.
Economic damage results from early plant death (deadheart) stem tunnelling, disruption of nutrient flow, steam breakage, poor or no grain formation and empty heads. Crop losses have been estimated at $91 million a year.
What to do:
- Sow early, soon after first rains . Delayed planting tends to increase the incidence of diapause, resulting in significantly higher numbers of diapausing larvae in millet stalks at the end of the growing season.Burn all crop residue left in the field after harvest. When using millet stalks for constructions, burn partially them immediately after harvest.
- Use resistant varieties if available
- Monitor the millet stemborer. In West Africa, pheromone technology has proved to be highly effective in monitoring this stem borer. These pheromones can also be used to reduce stemborer populations.
Mass trapping using pheromones has been tried in farmers' fields in Niger. These traps were particularly effective along fences and granaries, areas that harbour borers. Results indicate that inexpensive, locally made pheromone-baited traps are efficient and well adapted to local conditions (ICRISAT).
For more information on the African maize stalk borer click here . For more information on the spotted stalkborer click here.
The millet head miner (Heliocheilus albipunctella)
It is the most important insect pest of pearl millet in the Sahel. Moths deposit their eggs on the heads of millet, preferring half-emerged and fully-emerged flowering heads. The caterpillars mine into the seeds of the millet head, damaging the millet panicle (i.e. the flower head, where the grain is formed). It has been reported to cause complete crop loss. Pupation takes place in the soil.
What to do:
Plough deeply to expose residual larval populations and pupae to natural enemies and desiccation.
Conserve natural enemies. Efforts in artificial augmentation (rearing and releases) of an effective parasitic wasp (Habrobracon hebetor), and identification of other useful, complementary natural enemies, are going on in West Africa. (IITA, The McKnight Foundation). A two-week delay in planting of short cycle millet varieties (75 days to maturity) to desynchronise the peak flight period of the susceptible phenological stage of the crop has been reported to be effective against this pest (DFPV, Niger).
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| Shoot fly (Atherigona soccata) The adults are dark brown, and similar to a housefly, but nearly half the size. |
| © Georg Goergen, Courtesy of EcoPort, www.ecoport.org |
Adult resemble small houseflies. The yellowish maggots bore into the heart of the young shoot killing the growing point and the youngest leaf, which turns brown and withers. This damage is known as "dead heart". The shoot fly has been reported as attacking pearl millet.
What to do:
Conserve natural enemies. Parasitic wasps and several species of spiders are important predators on eggs.
Collect and destroy crop residues after harvest to reduce carry-over from one season to the other.
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| Variegated grasshopper (Zonocerus variegatus). The size of adult grasshoppers may vary between 300 mm and 520 mm. |
| © PRIFAS. Courtesy of EcoPort, www.ecoport.org |
Several species of grasshoppers attack millets. Short-horned grasshoppers include Zonocerus spp, Oedaleus senegalensis, Kraussaria angulifera, Hieroglyphus daganensis, Diabolocantatops axillaris among others. The long horned edible grasshopper (Homorocoryphus niditulus) is a pest in East Africa.
Grasshoppers defoliate and eat the panicles. They are not of economic importance when present in low numbers. However, invasion by a swarm of grasshoppers may result in serious grain losses.
What to do:
Conserve natural enemies. Important natural enemies include ants, larvae of blister beetles, parasitic flies, assassin bugs, predatory wasps, birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, and fungi. Robber flies are also major predator of grasshoppers.
Domesticated poultry (e.g. chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, geese, and ducks) and wild birds are good for keeping grasshopper populations in check. However, enclose the birds in wire fencing along the perimeter to avoid damage to the crop.
Ensure the ground is covered with crops, grass or mulch. This is reported to reduce grasshopper numbers since they prefer laying eggs on bare soil.
Dig or cultivate the land before planting to expose the eggs to predators and to to the weather.
Whenever necessary spray biopesticides. Neem extracts act as antifeedant (grasshoppers stop feeding when exposed to neem products) and affect development of grasshoppers. IITA (the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) researchers and partners have developed an environmental friendly biopesticide "Green Muscle" for control of grasshoppers and locusts (www.iita.org).
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| Lesser grain borer (Rhyzopertha dominica). Adults are 2-3 mm in length and reddish-brown in colour (shown on wheat grains). |
| © Clemson University - USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, United States, bugwood.org |
Grains of pearl millet are attacked by major pests such as the lesser grain borer and the khapra beetle. For this reason, the popular concept that millets are hardly susceptible to damage by storage insect pests is erroneous, except for the very small-grained millets such as tef and fonio. The lesser grain borer and the kapra beetle are relatively well adapted to extremely dry conditions and will cause serious damage to millet. Other secondary storage pests do not thrive in semi-arid climates where millets are grown, where stored grain is typically very dry.
What to do: Keep millet in sealed storage e.g. in drums or underground storage.
Lower the temperature during drying of millet. The optimum reproduction temperature for these pests is 30-35°C , thus lowering the temperature around 21°C could check reproduction (Kajuna).
Hang millet heads over kitchen fires to repel storage pests with the smoke
Store millet on the head. This reduces damage by pests as opposed to storing it in the form of threshed grains because the glumes on the in-threshed head act as protective devices
Mix seeds with inert substances such as sand and wood ash. These substances fill the endorsed spaces and thus prevent movement and dispersal of insects inside the stored seeds. They also act abrasive to enhance water loss through the insect cuticle, thus killing the insect
Mix seeds with plant materials such as leaves of Boscia senegalensis, and mint, Hyptis spp, and pulverised pepper. These materials show a repellent action against storage pests.
Other non-insect pests such as rats and birds may destroy a considerable part of the harvest.
- AIC (2002). Field Crops Technical Handbook.
- ARS Agricultural Handbook No. 716: Diseases of Pearl Millet. http://www.tifton.uga.edu/fat/diseases.htm
- CAB International (2005). Crop Protection Compendium, 2005 edition. Wallingford, UK www.cabi.org
- Harris, K. M. (1962). Lepidopterous stem borers of cereals in Nigeria. Vol 53. 139-171
- ICRISAT . Millet production growing in Africa. designs improved cropping systems for Sahelian millet, cowpeas. http://www.worldbank.org/html/cgiar/newsletter/Mar96/4millet.htm
- Icipe. African Stemborer Information System. http://stemborer.icipe.org/managementApproaches/biologicalControl/stemBorers.html
- Integrated management project of the millet head miner for increasing millet production in the Sahelian zone. http://mcknight.ccrp.cornell.edu/program_docs/project_documents/insect_pest_mgt/06-011_yr1_06-07_vweb_E.pdf
http://mcknight.ccrp.cornell.edu/projects/insect_pest_mgt/insect_pest_project.html - Kajuna, S. T. A. R. . Millet. Pest control. Chapter 18 03 http://www.fao.org/inpho/content/compend/text/ch18_03.htm
- Lost Crops of Africa: Volume I: Grains (1996). NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL Division on Policy and Global Affairs Development, Security, and Cooperation. Free online-version available: National Academies Press: http://www.nap.edu
- Maymoona, A.E., Roth, M. (2007). Utilisation of diversity in land use systems: Sustainable and organic approaches to meet human needs. Ecological Characteristics of the millet worm Heliocheilus albipunctella (Lepidoptera: noctuidae) a pest on millet in Sudan. Tropentag, October 9-11, 2007, Witzenhausen. http://www.tropentag.de/links/Maymoona_71qZfHkq.pdf
- Oduro, K.A. (2000). Checklist of Plant Pests in Ghana. Volume 1: Diseases. Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate.
- Pheromone-based monitoring system to manage the millet stem borer Coniesta ignefusalis(Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). ICRISAT. http://www.icrisat.org/gt-aes/ResearchBreifs14.htm
- Sankung Sagnia. Pest control in millet farming. Departement de Formation in Protection des Vegetaux (DFPV). Niger. www.metafro.be
- Youdeowei, A. (2002). Integrated Pest Management Practices for the Production of Cereals and Pulses. Integrated Pest Management Extension Guide 2. Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD), Ghana, with German Development Cooperation (GTZ). ISBN: 9988 0 1086 9.
- Youm, O., Harris, K. M., Nwanze, K. F. (1996). Coniesta ignefusalis (Hampson), the millet stem borer: a handbook of information. Information Bulletin, no 46. Patancheru 502324, Andhra Pradesh, India: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. 60 pp. ISBN 92-9066-253-0.
