Welcome to Official Portal of Agriculture Department, Sikkim!

  • Change Font Size:
  • -A
  • |
  • A
  • |
  • +A
  • ||
  • Change Theme:
 
logo user
emblem userSign In
Home About Us Contact Us

More Menu

Introductiion

Scientific Name : Eleusine coracana Gaertn.
English Name :    Finger Millet
Centre of Origin :  India
 

Introduction:


Elusine, the generic name, after the “Elusine” the Greek Goddess of cereals. The common name finger millet is derived from the finger like branching of the panicle. Finger millet or ragi is an important minor millet grown in India. It is a staple food crop in Karnataka and some hilly regions of the country. It is a favorite food of hard toiling class and also very useful to persons suffering from diabetes. The crop can be grown from sea level up to an altitude of 1800 meters. It is rich in Ca, P and Fe. It is grown as a min cereal crop for monsoon season in some hill areas, which is grown both for grain and forage. In northern hills, grains are eaten mostly in the form of ‘Chapatis’. In South India grains are used in preparations like cakes, pudding, sweats, etc. Germinating grains are malted and fed to infants. It is also good for pregnant women, and is considered as mutative food for adults of different ages.

In Sikkim finger millet is popularly known as ‘Kodo’. The social and economic condition of Sikkim has given a special importance to this crop. Here the grain is mainly used for malting and preparing ‘Change’ or ‘Jansu’. The powder is also used as bread or ‘Dhainro’. The stalk is considered to be a good fodder. It is a kharif crop and is cultivated throughout the state irrespective of elevation in an area of 5000 ha, producing about 4713 tonnes of grain (1998-’99). The crop occupies about 4.11% of the gross cultivated area.

Origin and History:


According to De Candolle (1886) finger millet probably originated in India as many of the forms exists in this country. It might have originated form Eleusine indica a grass that occurs in many parts of northern India. It is supposed to have spread from India to Abyssinia and rest of Africa. But Vavilov (1951) and Mehra (1962) considered Eleusine coracana to be of African origin and suggested earlier migration of this crop from Africa to India by way of Soboean lane.

Area and distribution:
Finger millet is extensively cultivated in India, Africa, Ceylon, Malaysia, China and Japan. In India it is cultivated over an area of 2.65 million ha with total production of about 2.9 million tones. It is widely grown in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra and in the hilly regions of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

In Sikkim it is grown in an area of 4140 hectares producing 3900 tonnes of grain (2006-07) which was 5000 ha and 4713 tonnes respectively in 1998-’99.

The district-wise area, Production and average yield of field crop in Sikkim during 2006-07 are as follows:

District    Area (000’ ha)    Production (000’ tonne)    Yield/hectare (kg)
North    0.69    0.64    927.54
East    1.00    0.86    860.00
South    0.95    0.95    1000.00
West    1.50    1.45    953.33
Total    4.14    3.90    942.03

Botany:

Finger millet is an erect tufted annual plant, growing 60 to 122 cm in height, Root system of plant consists of a large number of adventitious and fibrous roots which are able to absorb moisture very thoroughly and efficiently from the soil. The plant tillers profusely. The stem is compressed but with round nodes. The leaves are linear with distinct midrib, ligule and fringe of hairs. The tillers at the end of the culm bear finger like ear heads (four to eight in number) in which spikelets are crowded into two overlapping rows on the outer sides of the spike. Each spikelet contains four to five flowers. The spikes may take six to eight days to complete flowering. Flowering takes place simultaneously in all fingers. Crop is generally self-fertilized. The spikelets contain three to eight seeds which are very small in size and generally reddish- brown in color. There are four types of finger millet which are broadly grouped into:

 Incurved
 Open (Nangkatua /Furkey)
 Fisty
 op Curved.