Finger millet/Ragi

  • Season: Finger millet can be cultivated throughout the year if irrigation water is available as a kharif crop, pre-rabi crop, rabi crop with light irrigation and as a summer crop with moderate irrigation
  • Soil type: Finger millet is grown under different soil types. The best soils are alluvial, loamy and sandy soils with good drainage. It is moderately tolerant to salinity and highly tolerant to alkalinity with pH as high as 11.0.
  • Seed rate: 4 kg/acre for direct seeding and 2.4 kg/acre for transplanting
  • Seed treatment: Seed treatment with bio pesticides (Trichodermaharzianum@ 5g/ kg or thiram 75% dust @ 3 g/ kg of seed.
  • Sowing time: Sow the seeds in line at 20 cm apart in the last week of June or first week
  • of July during wet season. For transplanting sown the seeds in the nursery by June The seedlings will be ready within 25 days and July is optimum time for transplanting of kharifragi. September is optimum for pre rabi, October for rabi and April is ideal for summer crop.



Method of sowing:


  •  Direct seeded:Line sowing behind the furrow or by ragi seeder. Maintain a row spacing of 20 cm and plant to plant spacing 10cm. Shallow planting within 5 cm depth encourages quicker and better tillering.
  • Transplanted ragi: Transplant 2 seedlings of 25-30 days old per hill at 15x10 (early verities) or 20x10 cm (late varieties) at shallow depth of 5 cm
  • Intercultural operation: For DSR first hoeing at 2-3 weeks of sowing and second hoeing at 4-5 week after sowing. For transplanted crop one manual weeding at 2-3 weeks of transplanting. Pre-emergence application of Isoproturon @ 0.5-0.75 kg/ha provides broad spectrum weed control in finger millet.
  • Nutrient management: Rainfed Direct seeded ragi (Basal: Urea 11kg +SSP 100kg+MOP16.5kg/acre; First Top dressing at 20 DAS (Urea 22kg); second top dressing at 35-40 DAS(urea:11kg). Rainfed transplanted ragi (Basal: Urea 22kg + SSP100kg+MOP16.5kg/acre; Top dressing at 20 DAP (Urea 22kg/acre), Irrigated transplanted crop (Basal: Urea 26kg+ SSP100kg+MOP20kg/acre; Top dressing at 20 DAP (Urea 26kg/acre)
  • Water management: Ragi cannot withstand waterlogging. Drain the field in the rainy season, if necessary. Tillering and flowering stage is sensitive to water stress. Four- five irrigation is sufficient for growing ragi during rabi and summer season.
  • Seed treatment: Seed treatment with bio pesticides (Trichodermaharzianum @ 5g/ kg or thiram 75% dust @ 3 g/ kg of seed.