How to cultivate millet

1. Soil

Millet is not very demanding on soil, but it grows best in neutral soil with loose texture, thick black soil layer, good drainage and rich organic matter. Since millet has poor salt tolerance, if it is planted in saline-alkali land, the planting amount should be appropriately increased.

2. Lighting

It is a light-loving, short-day crop. Insufficient light will cause the seedlings to be thin, weak and tall, with low chlorophyll content and dry matter accumulation. Especially in the later stages of its growth, it needs sufficient light, because 92% of the dry matter accumulation in the grains comes from photosynthesis in the later stages.

3. Temperature

It likes warmth and has different temperature requirements at different stages of growth and development. During the growth and development period, the average temperature should be 20℃, during the germination period, the minimum temperature is 7-8℃, and the optimum temperature is 24-25℃. When the temperature is below 7℃, proper insulation is needed to avoid frost damage.

4. Watering

Millet is a relatively drought-resistant crop and generally does not require watering. However, if drought occurs during the jointing, heading and filling stages, it should be watered in a timely manner and topdressed with heading fertilizer to promote larger ears, increase the number of grains, and increase the fruit set rate and thousand-grain weight.

5. Fertilization

It likes fertilizer, and fertilization is generally divided into three stages. The first stage is base fertilizer, which is mainly farmyard manure, mixed with superphosphate as base fertilizer, and applied to the soil when turning the land or making ridges. The second is seed fertilizer, which generally uses diammonium phosphate and a small amount of nitrogen fertilizer, which can promote the early growth of rice seedlings. The third is top dressing. When the seedlings are 30-50 cm tall, apply nitrogen fertilizer.