Management

Season : Throughout the year for fodder in all districts under irrigated condition. Varieties : African Tall (Composite variety)

Yield Potential and Quality Characters

Crop Production:

1.Preparatory Cultivation

• Form ridges and furrows 60cm apart after ploughing and incorporation of FYM

• 40 Kg/ha

• 30 x 15 cm.

• Basal FYM 25t/ha ; 30:40:20 Kg NPK/ha Top dressing 30Kg N/ha after 30 days after sowing .

5. Weed Management

• First weeding at 25th DAS. Further weeding based on necessity.

• Immediately after planting; life irrigation on 3rd day and thereafter once in 10 days.

Harvest

• when the cob is in the milky stage.

8. Green fodder yield 60t/ha. Note : * Fodder Maize can be intercropped with CO 5 or CO (FC) 8 Cowpea at 3:1 ratio and harvested together to provide nutritious fodder.

• 60t/ha.

• TNAU vermicompost at 5 t/ha + 75% recommended dose of fertilizer for intercropping of maize and cowpea produces green fodder yield of 105 t/ha/yr ( 3 crops/ year) which is sufficient to maintain 7 adults and 3 young cattles. The dung obtained from these animals can be used for on farm production of 19.4 tonnes of vermicompost per year.

Crop Protection:

Fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda

Symptoms

• Windowing symptom.
• Heavy defoliation and large amount of faecal matter in the plant whorl.
• Bore holes in the developing internodes, damage on ear head.

Identification of Insect Pests

Egg : Dome shaped with flattened base.

Pupa : Obtect type and reddish brown in color.

Adult : Forewing : Male: Brown Female: Grayish brown Hind wing: Male and Female: Iridescent silver-white

• Deep ploughing and application of neemcake @ 250 kg per ha.
• Timely sowing and avoid staggered sowing. Follow crop rotation .
• Seed Treatment: Thiamethoxam 30 FS @ 10g or Beauveria bassiana @ 10 g per kg of seed or cyantraniliprole 19.8 % + thiomethoxam 19.8 % @ 4 ml/kg seed .
• Border crop: cowpea, sunflower, gingelly and marigold .
• Spray with Azadirachtin 1500 ppm at early stage.

Anthracnose and red rot (Colletotrichum graminicolum)

Field diagnostic symptoms

• Small red or purple spots on both surfaces of the leaf.
• White spot encircled by brown margin.

Favourable conditions

Survival and Mode of Spread

• Spread through seed and air-borne conidia and infected plant debris.

Integrated Disease Management

• Field sanitation and rouging of infested plant debris.
• Crop rotation
• Use resistant varieties or hybrids .
• Seed treatment: Captan or Thiram at 2 g/kg.
• Apply Bacillus subtilis or Trichoderma viride 2.5 kg/ha with 250 kg well decomposed Farm Yard Manure .

Land Requirement

• Land should be free from volunteer plant.
• The previous crop should not be the same variety or other varieties of the same crop.
• It can be the same variety if it is certified as per the procedures of certification agency.

• For certified quality seed production, a distance of 200 m (African Tall) all around the field from the same and other varieties of the crop should adopted.
• Seed rate :20 kg/ha.
• Spacing : 60 x 20 cm (65 x 15 cm)
• Fertilizer requirement: Apply NPK @ 175 : 90 : 90 kg / ha + 25 kg ZnSO 4 / ha as basal

• Seeds attained physiological maturity on 40 th day after anthesis.

• Carbendazim @ 2 g / kg of seed along with carbaryl @ 200 mg / kg of seed.
• Treat the seeds with halogen mixture (CaOCl2 + CaCO3 + arappu leaf powder mixed in the ratio of 5:4:1 @ 3 g / kg as eco-friendly treatment.

• Short term storage in gunny/cloth bag (8 - 9 months) with 9-10% moisture content .
• Medium term storage in polylined gunny bag (12 - 15 months) with 8 - 9 % moisture.
• Long term storage in 700 gauge polythene bag (> 15 months) with < 8% moisture. .

Larva : Greenish with black head later darker, four black spots at tail end, White inverted – Y – mark on head.

• Continuous rain, temperature of 28-30 – C and High Relative humidity .