Abstract
Finger millet is a climate compliant crop; its production remains low due to poor establishment methods. A field experiment was conducted during the rainy season of 2018/19 at Dorcas Charare plot in ward 24, Zaka district to investigate the effects of establishment methods on yield and yield parameters of finger millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn). The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three treatments namely broadcasting, hand drilling and transplanting replicated three times. Results on grain yield showed that transplanting method had the highest yield of 0.51t/ha whilst drilling and broadcasting scored 0.40t/ha and 0.35t/ha respectively. Transplanting method significantly (p<0.05) influenced higher number of tillers (7.13) per hill followed by drilling (2.40) and lastly broadcasting (2.13). Significant differences (p<0.05) were noted on panicle number with transplanting scoring the highest (8.13) and broadcasting the lowest (3.13). It can be concluded from the study that transplanting method realized a higher panicle number, tiller number and grain yield. Farmers must adopt transplanting as an establishment method in finger millet production.
Highlights
The results showed that there were significant differences (p
The results showed that there were no significant differences on panicle number per hill between broadcasting (3.13a) and drilling (3.40a)
From the results of this study, it can be concluded that the establishment methods that were tested does not have a significant effect on plant height
Summary
Gaertn) belongs to family Poaceae (Nepal Agricultural Research Council, 2014) It is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas of Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and self-pollinating species probably evolved from its wild relative Eleusine Africana L. Finger millet is a tufted annual cereal crop growing 40-150 cm tall, taking between 2.5 and 6 months to mature. It is a short-day plant with a growing optimum 12 hours of daylight for most varieties (Adunga et al, 2011). Various types of porridge and alcoholic beverages are prepared from the seeds (Alumira and Rusike, 2005)
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