Biotic Stress Management in Millets
Presented in the DST-SERB sponsored National
Seminar on Millets on 13th Oct 2023 titled “Exploring
The Global Potential Of Millets: Food Security, Health &
Sustainability” at DSU, Tamil Nadu
Dr. J. Diraviam
Senior Scientist and Head, ICAR Krishi Vigyan Kendra
Pulutheri Village, R.T. Malai(PO),Kulithalai(TK), Karur(DT) - 621 313.
Mobile: 9488967675 Email: [email protected];
Website: www.skvkk.org; FB: Icar KVK Karur
Consumption of millets can
make India “HUNGER FREE”
and it is high time we
realise the real benefits of
“healthy eating”.
― Dr. M. S. Swaminathan
Current Status of Millets in India
• Millets have been termed as ‘Nutri-cereals’ in view of
the health benefits and are gaining importance as we
are celebrating the International Year of Millets in the
current year of 2023.
• India is the Global leader in the production of millets
with a share of 15% of the world’s total production.
• Cultivation of millets is increasing in India from 12.29
million hectares during 2013-14 to 15.48 million
hectares in 2021 – 22.
• The major millets are sorghum, bajra and ragi with
pearl millet contributing 58% of total millet production
in 2021-22 followed by sorghum (29%) and ragi
(10%).
Challenges in Millets cultivation
• The demand for millets is expected to grow
globally from USD 11.02 billion in 2023 to USD
13.80 billion by 2028.
• The productivity of millets is affected by biotic
stresses such as weeds, pests and diseases.
• As millets are generally cultivated on rainfed,
marginal and poor nutrition soils, the crops are
susceptible to different types of weeds – grassy,
broad leaved and sedges resulting in crop yields
ranging from 15 to 83%.
• In view of the climate change, poor management
practices, pests and diseases also take up upper
hand during the monsoon season.
Millets Pests Scenario
• Worldwide, at least 150 insect species are
recorded as feeding on millets (Nwanze and
Harris 1992); 116 species have been
recorded from India (Kishore 1996).
• Most of the pests are common to all species
of millet (Gahukar 1989)
• Insect feeding on different plant parts at
various plant growth stages results in
economic losses due to decreases in crop
productivity and grain quality, and decreased
fodder yield (Arun Kumar and
Channaveerswami 2015, Bekoye and Dadie
Major Insect pests of millets
Common Insect Crop Pest
Reference
name species infesteda statusb
White Holotrichia Pearl millet Regular Choudhary et al.
grub consanguinea (2018)
Shoot fly Atherigona Pearl millet Regular Biradar and Sajjan
approximata (2018)
Shoot fly A. pulla Proso millet Occasion Sathish et al.
al (2017a,b)
Little millet Regular Arun Kumar and
Channaveerswami
(2015)
Pink stem Sesamia Foxtail Regular Sasmal (2015)
borer inferens millet
Shoot Flies
Sorghum, Finger millet :
Atherigona soccata
Rondani
Pearl millet : A.
approximata Malloch
Proso millet, Kodo millet
:
A. simplex Thompson
Fox tail millet : A.
atripalpis Malloch
Barnyard millet : A.
falcata Thompson
Little millet : A. pulla
Wiedmann
Ragi Stem borer
Sesamia
inferens Walker
(Noctuidae:
Lepidoptera)
Host range:
Sorghum,
maize, rice,
wheat,
sugarcane,
bajra and ragi,
barley, guinea
grasses.
Challenges in conventional pest management
• The occurrence of pests and diseases
on millets also leads to use of
chemical pesticides, leading to
problems of:
– High cost of plant protection
– Problems of pesticide resistance,
resurgence
– Chemical residue in grains, straw
IPM strategy for millet pests
• Pest management in millet crops is
mostly attributed to host plant
resistance and cultural management.
• Many species of shoot flies affect
millet crop and they are managed by
growing resistant or tolerant varieties
and using cultural management like
sowing seeds at a high seed rate and
removal of infected seedlings.
IPM strategy for millet pests
• Stem borers are suppressed by
natural enemies like parasitoids and
predators.
• Of late, fall armyworm is also found
to attack the sorghum especially in
the early crop stages.
IPM strategy for millet pests
• Pest management in millets is to be
aimed as a system approach rather
than managing individual pests in
millets.
• Pest management using strategic crops
in crop sequence, intercropping with
nonhost plants to reduce the pest
management in both the companion
crops, selection and growing of millets
in alley cropping aiming in pest
management through an ecosystem
Millets Diseases Overview
• CROP damage due to diseases is one of
the major causes of concerns for
improvement of millets production and
productivity with intensive cultivation.
• Losses vary depending on growth stage of
the crop infected, type of disease, plant
part affected and disease intensity. Losses
due to fungal diseases are more compared
to bacterial and viral diseases.
Major Diseases of Millets
• There are more than a dozen major diseases that
considerably affect cultivation of various millets like
sorghum, pearl millet, and small millets
• Grain mold, stalk rot and anthracnose in sorghum,
downy mildew in pearl millet and sorghum, blast in
pearl millet and finger millet, rust in sorghum, pearl
millet and foxtail millet, ergot in sorghum and pearl
millet, and smuts in all millets are economically
important diseases.
• These diseases occur during different crop growth
stages on physiologically and economically important
plant parts.
Biological control
• Soil-borne diseases of millets (e.g.,
charcoal rot in sorghum, foot rot and
sheath rot in small millets), for which
adequate host resistance is lacking, use of
biocontrol agents are useful.
• Seed treatment with talc formulation of
Pseudomonas chlororaphis SRB127
reduces charcoal rot incidence and
increase seed weight.
• Bio-control agents especially strains of
Trichoderma and Pseudomonas are useful
for foot rot and sheath rot in small millets.
Millets Diseases Management
Strategy
• Clean cultivation, sowing date adjustment,
soil and seed treatment, crop
management, removal and destruction of
infected plants, use of resistant cultivars
and need based spray with bio-control
agents are some of the practices that
should be followed for cultivation of
disease free millet crops.
Fungal
Diseases
Millet host: Sorghum, Pearl millet,
Finger millet
Grain mold
Causal organisms:
Fusarium spp.,
Curvularia lunata,
Alternaria alternate,
Phoma sorghina,
Bipolaris spp., Aspergillus
spp.
Sugary disease/ Ergot
• Causal
organisms
• Sorghum ergot:
Claviceps sorghi,
• C. africana
• Pearl millet
ergot:
• C. fusiformis
•
•
Small millet smut
Causal organisms:
Smut
• Grain smut Finger millet: Melanopsichium eleusinis
• Foxtail millet: Ustilago crameri
• Barnyard millet: Ustilago panici-frumentacei
Downy mildew
• Causal
organisms:
Finger millet:
Sclerophthor
a
macrospora
• Foxtail millet:
Sclerospora
graminicola
Blast
• Pearl millet, Finger,
Foxtail, Barnyard,
Proso & Little
millets
• Finger millet blast
• Causal organisms:
Pyricularia grisea
(Perfect state:
Magnaporthe
grisea)
Small millet rust
• Kodo millet: P.
Substriata
• Finger millet:
Uromyces
eragrostidis
• Foxtail millet:
• U. setariae-
italiae
• Little millet: U.
linearis
VIRAL
DISEASES
• Sugarcane mosaic
virus (Sorghum,
Finger millet)
• Ragi mottle streak
virus (Finger millet)
• Ragi severe mosaic
• Transmission: Aphid,
Longiunguis
sacchari
Weed Scenario in Millets
• Weeds deprive the crop of different growth
resources such as nutrients, soil moisture, light,
and space which ultimately hamper the yield if
proper and timely weed management strategies
are not taken.
• Heavy infestation of complex weed flora especially
during rainy season causes 15- 83% reduction in
yield.
• The management of grassy weeds (Sorghum
halepens, Eleusine indica, Echinochloa colona/crus-
galli, Panicum repens, Paspalidium flavidum,
Setaria glauca, etc.) in millets is very difficult due
to crop mimicry and non-availability of selective
herbicides.
Major weed Flora of Millets in
Tamil Nadu
• Grasses: Echinochloa colona,
Panicum repens, Cynodon dactylon
• Sedges: Cyperus rotundus
• Broadleaved weeds: Tridax
procumbens, Trianthema
portulacastrum, Amaranthus viridis.
Euphorbia hirta, Celosia argentea,
Digera arvensis, Bergiacapensis
Weed Management Strategy in Millets
• Because of the slow initial growth,
early 30 days period are more critical
for weed competition.
• Timely weed management in millets is
of utmost importance for obtaining
higher yields.
• In general manual and mechanical
weeding is the most common method
of weed management in millets.
Way Forward
• In the International Year of Millets 2023,
more focussed research is required in
managing the biotic stresses on Millets.
• As the millets are rainfed crops more
efforts are needed to make the crops with
stand drought in the wake of climate
change, so as to make the crops
resist/tolerate the biotic stresses as well.
Summary
• Millets when cultivated similar to other
conventional crops, it also becomes
susceptible to several pests.
• By adoption of Integrated Crop
Management strategy, we can manage the
biotic stresses in millet crops.
• Use of non chemical means of
management would lead to sustainability
THANK YOU!!!
