Millet (Broomcorn Millet) Planting Methods and Key Field Management Techniques
Millet has a very long history. Along with rice, foxtail millet, wheat and soybean, it was known in ancient times as one of the Five Grains, and millet is also called huangmi. It can be used to brew alcohol and make pastries. Its drought resistance is extremely strong, even more tenacious than wheat and sorghum, but today we mainly grow rice and wheat, and millet production in China is very low, so it can be considered a relatively rare variety. So today Qinnong Net will tell everyone how to grow millet.
1. Select good seed
After such a long period of development, millet also has a great many varieties, but because relatively few people grow it, the current price is also relatively expensive. Since we grow millet surely in order to make money, it must have the characteristics of high yield and high quality. Most of China's millet seed comes from the north, so its drought resistance and disease resistance are very good. We can choose Jiu Shu No. 1, Long Shu No. 23, Gong Shu No. 1 and so on. These varieties are all very good in both yield and quality.
2. Land selection and land preparation
Because millet has relatively strong resistance, its requirements for soil are not so important, but if you want high yield, it is best to choose fertile sandy land. At least half a month before planting, the land should be prepared well, so that the soil can also be sunned for a period of time. When preparing the land, the land is required to be level and the soil clods relatively fine, which can enhance the soil's permeability and help with water storage and plant growth.
3. Sow at the right time
Millet is a relatively unusual plant. It can be sown in all four seasons of the year, because it not only has strong drought resistance but also not weak cold resistance. Of course, if you want both yield and quality to reach a high level, then the best sowing time is May each spring and late August to early September each autumn. The temperature during this period is basically around 15 to 25 degrees, and rainfall and sunlight are relatively sufficient, making it most suitable for millet growth.
4. Sowing and raising seedlings
There are three ways to sow millet. If you are relatively lazy and just do not want the land to lie waste, then you can adopt the broadcast sowing method: evenly scatter the seeds over the prepared land, then use a rake to press the seeds into the soil, and finally cover with a layer of film or withered grass or plant ash, all of which are fine. What we most often use is drilling in rows, because this can ensure a reasonable field density of millet and the yield of millet, and at the same time it is also convenient for later field management. The third is hole sowing. We need to sow at a distance of 35 to 40 cm between rows and about 25 to 30 cm between plants. This method belongs to intensive and meticulous cultivation.
5. Field management
When millet seedlings grow to three or four cm, we can thin and fill in the seedlings in the field. Generally we need to complete the final planting within one week, because if it is later, the yield will be reduced. After final planting is completed, we need to carry out the first fertilization, watering and intertillage weeding, mainly to promote the growth of millet seedlings. When the millet seedlings grow to a certain stage, they will enter the tillering stage, which has a great influence on millet yield, so we need to carry out a second fertilization, mainly with phosphorus fertilizer and potassium fertilizer. The third fertilization should wait until millet heads form. At this time, if nutrients are insufficient, many flat grains or empty grains will appear, so we mainly use boron fertilizer for foliar spraying. During the first and second fertilization, intertillage weeding is needed, and each fertilization also needs to be accompanied by watering, which helps the millet seedlings absorb nutrients.