Pearl millet plant
Pearl millet plant
Scientific name
Pennisetum glaucum
Strengths
- Annual.
- Large seed.
- Easy to harvest, handle and sow.
- Can be drilled into moist soil.
- Good emergence from depth, to 50 mm.
- Relatively easy to establish on black cracking-clay soils.
- Vigorous seedlings.
- High growth rate.
- Salt tolerant.
- Drought tolerant.
- Suitable for silage.
Limitations
- Needs moderate to high fertility.
- Seedlings slow in early stage below 20C.
- Intolerant of watelogging.
- A little coarse for hay.
Plant description
Pearl millet seedhead
Plant:
A robust, multi-stemmed annual grass.
Stems:
Stems erect, 150-300 cm long, 10-20 mm diameter. Nodes are bearded and slightly swollen. Nodes can produce adventitious roots. Above each node is a shallow groove containing a bud.
Leaves:
Ligule is a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blades are flat, 50-100 cm long and 8-70 mm wide.
Seedhead: Seedhead is a compact, cylindrical spike-like panicle.
Seeds:
Wedge-shaped seeds are 3-4 mm long and colour depends on variety. About 187,000 seeds/kg.
Pasture type and use
It is used as an annual summer forage crop for cattle.
Where it grows
Pearl millet after combine harvesting
Rainfall
Rainfall greater than 500 mm/yr and soil moisture stored during fallow are required for satisfactory forage crop production.
Soils
It is adapted to fertile loams to heavy cracking clays.
Temperature
It grows during the warm season and tops are killed by heavy frost.
Establishment
Field of Pearl millet
Companion species
Legumes: lablab, cowpea.
Sowing/planting rates as single species
6-15 kg/ha.
Sowing/planting rates in mixtures
3-7 kg/ha.
Sowing time
It is sown from spring to late summer.
Inoculation
Not applicable
Fertiliser
Fertiliser application of 15-20 kg/ha P, 50-100 kg/ha N and 50-100 kg/ha K, if grown for hay, may be used to produce satisfactory forage crops.
Management
Harvesting of Pearl millet
Maintenance fertliser
100 kg N/ha after grazing will increase late season production.
Grazing/cutting
20 t/ha DM has been produced from good stands with sufficient moisture and fertiliser.
Seed production
600-800 kg/ha.
Ability to spread
There is little chance of spread.
Weed potential
It has negligible weed potential.
Major pests
Helicoverpa spp. can damage developing heads and should be controlled in seed crops.
Major diseases
Head mould and ergot can reduce seed yield.
Herbicide susceptibility
It is killed by glyphosate and is tolerant of atrazine.
Animal production
Cattle grazing on Pearl millet
Feeding value
Forage quality depends on soil type and fertility, fertilisers applied, rainfall and age of the crop.
Palatability
Reduced palatability is sometimes observed in droughted crops.
Production potential
At Katherine NT wet season grazing by beef cattle at a stocking rate of 2.5 beasts/ha produced a liveweight gain of 102 kg per head in 20-24 weeks. Cattle grazing standing pearl millet in the dry season made an average liveweight gain of 269 kg/ha over 16 weeks during a period when animals grazing natural pasture lost weight.
Livestock disorders/toxicity
No known problems except unpalatability in some droughted crops.
Cultivars
| Cultivar | Seed source/Information |
| Katherine | Australian Herbage Plant Cultivars |
| Ingrid | Australian Herbage Plant Cultivars |
| Tamworth | Australian Herbage Plant Cultivars |
| Siromill | Progressive Seeds |
