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5 Pearl Millet: Subsistence Types
Pages 93-110

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From page 93...
... For want of a better name, we have called them "subsistence types." To any outsider used to the robust look of wheat, rice, or maize, subsistence pearl millets may seem puny, unproductive, and downright unworthy of consideration. To an agronomist or cereal breeder, they ' The next chapter discusses pearl millet varieties that are adapted to commercial production and more salubrious sites.
From page 94...
... "I will not plant again," he told the photographer after a rainstorm flattened his seventh millet planting that year. Even his resilient subsistence-type pearl millet has succumbed.
From page 96...
... Most sow more area and in widely separated sites than they anticipate getting a harvest from. During the planting period they may scatter seeds continually wherever their herds trample the soil, and thereby give the seeds a chance to survive.
From page 97...
... In reality, though, subsistence pearl millets are some of the most remarkable food plants to be found anywhere. In the area of West Africa where pearl millet is paramount, the droughts can be fierce, the heat searing, and the rainstorms terrible.
From page 98...
... 98 _ o Ct Rae .
From page 99...
... Modern plant breeders try to eliminate this restrictive trait so the plants they produce can be grown in different latitudes and seasons. But, for the subsistence pearl millets of West Africa, daylength sensitivity is what ensures that grain will
From page 100...
... Subsistence growers choose among the varieties mainly on grounds of suitability for preparing such dishes as: ~ Toh. The principal food, served at least once a day in the northern Sahel toh is a stiff porridge prepared by adding pearl millet to boiling water while stirring.
From page 101...
... WHAT TO DO? Supporting greater production of subsistence pearl millets is one of the world's most humane endeavors.
From page 102...
... However, in a broad sense, subsistence and commercial farming, although separate, are parallel and equally worthy- a fact not widely recognized by the public and one that sometimes befuddles even the best-intentioned scientific minds. Subsistence farming is vital to the lives of millions, of course, and strengthening it is perhaps the most humanitarian contribution that can be made to African agriculture.
From page 103...
... agriculture to its current heights. It was through those universities and similar research facilities that the life cycles of many farm pests were worked out, the effects of fertilizer demonstrated, crop genetics illuminated, soil types and soil micronutrients identified, and myriad other basic facts underlying any farming operation brought to light.
From page 104...
... They have found that the seedlings show large differences in the length and in the speed with which they lengthens By selecting types that produce tall seedlings and rapid elongation they have been able to plant the crop as deep as 10 cm.6 This gives the newly germinated and highly vulnerable seedling a better chance at surviving: it can reach deeper moisture; it is less likely to be killed if the soil surface dries out; and, if it is a fast grower, it can perhaps get through to the air before the soil crusts over. Although the tests were done in germinators and greenhouses in the United States, they successfully identified lines possessing improved stand-establishment capabilities of high potential value for the subsistence farmers facing the elements a world away.
From page 105...
... 1990. Alleviation of soil constraints to crop growth in the upland alfisols and associated soil groups of the West African Sudan Savannah by tied ridges.
From page 106...
... Williams, who wrote to us saying: `'As a point of interest my personal research has shown that millet growth varied tenfold as a result of manipulation of soil surface temperature by 6°C (I used shading techniques) , but the same manipulation allowed maize to grow in 40°C air temperatures as well!
From page 107...
... The residues not only increased the sandy soil's moisture-holding capacity, they also lowered soil temperatures and boosted fertility.'3 Biological Fertilization The areas where subsistence pearl millet is prevalent are usually so remote and so poverty stricken that despite the soil's barrenness commercial fertilizer can seldom, if ever, be used. But all plants, even those as robust as subsistence pearl millets, need food in the form of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and a few so-called "micronutrients." How to provide plant foods under subsistence conditions is one of the '' Reddy et al., 1990.
From page 108...
... But those who employed better methods obtained yields of 2.4 tons per hectare, about eight times the traditional amount. Okashana 1 results from intensive plant breeding at ICRISAT, but it still retains its rustic resilience and is especially suited to subsistence farmers' needs.
From page 109...
... For providing nitrogen to a subsistence farmer's crops, probably nothing is more practical than biological sources. Nitrogen can be obtained in this way by: · Incorporating crop residues or animal manures into the soil; · Using leguminous food plants (such as cowpea or peanuts)


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