Pearl Millet, a Potential Crop for Kansas

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over 2300 lines and varieties (obtained from the Southern Regional Plant lntroduction Station, the World Collection, the ICRISAT Germplasm Collection, the USDA Collection, and several tropical countries) to the present stages of development of several populations, composites, and dwarf, early-maturing hybrids and inbred lines.
In order for millet to be grown successfully in the drier temperate zones at latitudes as far north as Kansas, it is necessary to convert the tropical, photoperiod-sensitive materials to early-maturing types that can flower and reproduce under day length, precipitation , and temperature conditions of this area .It is also necessary to introduce dwarfness, increased seed size, • lodging resistance, and uniform ripening to enable the crop to be.grown with mechanical farming methods.

Yield Evaluations
Yield tests were conducted from 1979 to 1982-at various locations throughout Kansas: Manhattan, Hutchinson, St. John, Hays, Minneola, Garden City, and Tribune.Eighteen Kansas experimental millet hybrids were tested and compared to commercial sorghum hybrids (three in 1979 and1980;six In 1981 and1982).The miUet hybrids had maturity ratings comparable to those of sorghum hybrids used.Table 1 lists the average yield (lbs./ acre) of sorghum and millet at each location for each year.Some of the millet hybrids produced grain yielc;ls as high as 4800 lbs./acre.Millet hybrid 80-2113 x 79-1137, developed at Fort Hays, had an average yield of 2970 lbs./acre over all locations across both 1981 and 1982.This dwarf hybrid had one of the largest seed weights and averaged 55-59 days to half bloom.The highest yielding millets for all locations were 5-10 days earlier in maturity than the earliest sorghums used.The four-year average yield of all millets was 65% of the average yield of the commercial sorghum hybrids (Table 1).However, the four-year average yield of the top three millets was 84% of the average yield of sorghum.
Sorghum had better stand establishment and plant population, but millet h~d a greater tillering ability to compensate for lower plant populations.At harvest, millet had the greater number of heads per acre.
Seed weight of millet was about one-quarter to one-half that of sorghum.Sorghum seed weight varied _ more with changing environmental conditions than that of millet.
Studies also showed the water-use efficiency {yield/ water use) of sorghum to be greater than that d ) pearl millet, both for grain and total dry matter' even' though • sorghum used slightly more water than pearl millet.The primary reason for this greater efficiency by sorghum was its higher yield.
A major cause of reduced grain yield of millet was poor seed set.One form of sterility appears to be induced by temperatures below 56-58 F during the early boot stage of development.Low temperatures at this stage may interfere with the development of the pollen mother cells or early stages of meiosis, resulting in aborted pollen grains.

Pl~nting Dates and Rates
The millet hybrids tested were planted within the first two weeks of June and reached half-bloom by August 15'.Physiological maturity (maximum grain weight) occurred approximately 25-30 days after flowering., ) The small seeds of millet caused problems in •-~tand establishment when conventional surface planting equipment was used.These problems were increased in heavier soils where crusting can occur.A seeding rate of 50,000 seeds/ acre (1 lb/ acre) was used, with a 50% rate of establishment observed.Planting depths were the same as for sorghum, 1-3 inches, depending upon soil texture and moisture depth.

Weed Control
Tolerance of pearl millet seedlings to propazine, terbutryn, or blfenox applications was excellent 10 days after treatment.Pearl millet seedlings also showed excellent tolerance to atrazine when grown in heavier soils, but atrazine could not be used on sandy soils.Emergence of pearl millet was severely reduced by propachlor or butylate plus R-25788 applications and was prevented by propachlor applications in combination with other herbicides or EPTC plus R-25788 ap-  plications.In the yeld trials, propazine gave good control of most annual broad-leaf weeds and fair to poor control of annual grasses.
Pearl Millet for Livestock Feed Nearly all of the world's crop of pearl millet grain is consumed as food for humans and very little information is available concerning its use in livestock rations.When compared to sorghum grain, pearl millet grain has higher levels of both fat and protein, and the protein has a better balance of amino acids.Preliminary studies at Fort Hays showed that steers fed millet gained as well as those fed sorghum (Table 2).Estimated net energy of millet was 4 percent higher than that-Of finely rolled sorghum .Pearl millet is an excellent source of protein for beef cattle rations.In other trials, steers were fed enough millet (16% crude protein) to permit omitting soybean meal and urea from the ration .Millet grain, when used with Rumensin in growing rations for calves (Table 3), gave significantly higher daily gains than sorghum .

Conclusions
Pearl millet has the potential of being an alternate crop in the semi-arid, grain producing areas.Evaluations have shown yields as high as 4800 lbs./acre and top yields averaging approximately 80% of sorghum yields.Weed control can be obtained through cultivation and applications of propazine, terbutryn or bifenox.Furthermore, pearl millet is an excellent protein source and growing ration for livestock.