Performance of little millet (Panicum sumatrense L.) under different spacings and seed rate

A field trial was conducted at AICRP on Weed Management, Department of Agronomy farm, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, during kharif season 2024-25 with the objective to study the effect of spacing and seed rate on performance of little millet. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with four replication and six treatments. Result of the study revealed that plant height (cm) at harvest and leaf area (cm2 plant-1) at 75 DAS was recorded highest in close spacing of 30 cm × 5 cm with 3 kg ha-1 seed rate and dry matter accumulation (g plant-1) at harvest was significantly higher in wider spacing 45 cm × 15 cm with 0.7 kg ha-1 seed rate.

Illustrations explain the paper; charts are replotted from the paper's own table values.

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Trade-off between Plant Height and Dry MatterClose ×

AI-generated conceptual illustration (little millet (Panicum sumatrense L.)). It explains the idea and does not show study data.

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Plant height (cm) at harvest: T1- 30 cm ×5 cm with 3... vs T2- 30 cm ×10 cm with... vs T3- 30 cm ×15 cm with 1... vs T4- 45 cm ×5 cm with 2... vs T5- 45 cm ×10 cm with 1...Close ×

Replotted from Table 1 (page 2) of the original paper. Every bar is the paper's own table value.

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Leaf area (cm2 plant-1) at 75 DAS: T1- 30 cm ×5 cm with 3... vs T2- 30 cm ×10 cm with... vs T3- 30 cm ×15 cm with 1... vs T4- 45 cm ×5 cm with 2... vs T5- 45 cm ×10 cm with 1...Close ×

Replotted from Table 1 (page 2) of the original paper. Every bar is the paper's own table value.

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Introduction

Little millet (Panicum sumatrense L.) one of the most ancient cereal crops, holds significant value in traditional Indian agriculture. It belongs to the family Poaceae and is widely recognized for its resilience to harsh agro-climatic conditions, including drought and poor soils. Believed to have originated in the Indian subcontinent, the crop has been cultivated since prehistoric times, with evidence of its domestication dating back over 3,000 years. It is often referred to by local names such as Kutki, Sama, Samai, or Gajro, and is predominantly grown in India, with limited cultivation reported in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. In India, its cultivation is concentrated in tribal and rainfed regions, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. These areas benefit from its adaptability to low-input farming systems and minimal irrigation requirements, making it an essential crop for food and livelihood security in marginal environments. Botanically, little millet is a short-day annual crop that typically reaches a height of 30 to 100 cm. It exhibits a robust fibrous root system and is well suited to shallow, red, sandy loam soils with low fertility. It is a C4 plant, capable of efficient photosynthesis under high temperatures and limited moisture, allowing it to perform well in semi-arid climates. The crop matures within 80 to 120 days and is usually sown during the kharif season under rainfed conditions. Its resilience to abiotic stress, coupled with its short growth duration, enables it to be cultivated even in degraded or marginal lands where major cereals fail. Due to these characteristics, little millet is considered a climate-resilient crop with potential to contribute to sustainable farming systems in the face of increasing climate variability (Singh et al., 2018). Optimum spacing and seed rate are crucial for achieving better growth parameters in little millet, as they directly influence plant population, resource utilization, and crop performance. Appropriate spacing ensures adequate availability of sunlight, nutrients, moisture, and aeration to each plant, thereby promoting higher photosynthetic efficiency, balanced tiller production, and robust root development. Similarly, an optimum seed rate maintains the desired plant density, avoiding excessive competition under higher seed rates or poor canopy coverage under lower seed rates. Together, these factors regulate plant height, leaf area, biomass accumulation, and overall vigor, ultimately enhancing yield potential and resourceuse efficiency in little millet cultivation. Therefore, this study was

Materials and Methods

An agronomic investigation was carried out at AICRP on Weed Management, Department of Agronomy farm, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, during kharif season 2024-25 with the objective to study the effect of spacing and seed rate on performance of little millet.

The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with four replication and six treatments viz., T1 (Spacing 30 cm × 5 cm with 3 kg ha -1 seed rate), T2 (Spacing 30 cm × 10 cm with 1.5 kg ha -1 seed rate), T3 (Spacing 30 cm × 15 cm with 1 kg ha -1 seed rate), T4 (Spacing 45 cm × 5 cm with 2 kg ha -1 seed rate), T5 (Spacing 45 cm × 10 cm with 1 kg ha -1 seed rate) and T6 (Spacing 45 cm × 15 cm with 0.7 kg ha -1 seed rate). Little millet variety PDKV Tejashree was sown with recommended dose of fertilizer was 40:20:20 kg NPK ha -1 .

Result and Discussion

Plant height is an important component which helps in the determination of growth. Spacing of 30 cm × 5 cm with 3 kg ha -1 seed rate recorded maximum height (111 cm) at harvest. The increased plant height observed under higher plant density can be attributed to inter-plant competition for light, resulting in mutual shading particularly of the lower foliage.

This reduced light interception stimulates vertical elongation as an adaptive response, provided nutrient availability remains adequate. Conversely, the relatively shorter stature of little millet under wider spacing may be due to improved access to solar radiation and spatial resources, which diminishes the need for compensatory stem elongation. Similar results were recorded by Roy et al. (2001) [4] , Siddiqui et al. (2020) [6] and Minz et al. (2021) [1] . At 75 DAS, the maximum leaf area (563.97 cm 2 plant -1 ) was observed under the closer spacing of 30 cm × 5 cm with 3 kg ha -1 seed rate. Under closer spacing, intense competition for sunlight induces plants to produce larger leaves in order to enhance their photosynthetic surface area. Such dense planting patterns force plants to utilize the available space more efficiently, thereby increasing the total leaf area per unit ground area. These observations are in agreement with the findings of Reddy et al. (2021) [3] . The different planting geometries had no significant effect on days to 50% flowering and days to physiological maturity. Higher dry matter accumulation at harvest was recorded at spacing 45 cm × 15 cm with 0.7 kg ha -1 seed rate (31.60 g plant -1 ). In wider spacing, reduced inter-plant competition and better resource availability favored overall plant growth, resulting in higher dry matter accumulation per plant through improved development of leaves, stems, and roots. These results are in close agreement with the findings of Rana et al. (2009) [2] and Sarala et al. (2020) [5] .

Conclusion

The study revealed that growth parameters were significantly influenced due to different spacings and seed rate in little millet. Highest plant height and leaf area was observed in close spacing 30 cm × 5 cm with 3 kg ha -1 seed rate (111 cm and 563.97 cm 2 respectively), however maximum dry matter accumulation (31.60 g plant -1 ) was recorded in wider Spacing 45 cm × 15 cm with 0.7 kg ha -1 seed rate.

Figures and tables from the paper

Treatments	Plant height (cm) at harvest	Leaf area (cm2 plant-1) at 75 DAS	Day to 50% flowering	Day to maturity	Dry matter (g plant- 1) at harvest
T1- 30 cm ×5 cm with 3 kg ha-1seed rate	111.00	563.97	77	102.50	16.14
T2- 30 cm ×10 cm with 1.5 kg ha-1seed rate	105.50	556.69	77	102.50	20.16
T3- 30 cm ×15 cm with 1 kg ha-1seed rate	99.75	551.30	78	103.00	23.03
T4- 45 cm ×5 cm with 2 kg ha-1seed rate	96.25	554.63	79	103.00	24.52
T5- 45 cm ×10 cm with 1 kg ha-1seed rate	96.25	548.76	79	102.25	28.05
T6- 45 cm ×15 cm with 0.7 kg ha-1seed rate	94.50	542.98	80	103.06	31.60
SE(m) ±	1.23	2.98	1.02	1.49	0.14
CD at 5%	3.72	8.99	NS	NS	0.41
GM	100.54	533.05	78	102.00	23.91

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Effect of spacing and seed rate on growth parameters of little millet

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1. Minz SD, Singh AK, Kumar NM, Singh BK. Effect of crop geometry and nitrogen management on growth attributes of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) under guava based agri-horti system. Pharma Innov J. 2021;10(9):2191-5.
2. Rana VS, Rathore BS, Nanwal RK, Kumar A, Vasist R. Effect of hybrids, plant density and fertility levels on nutrient concentration, uptake and productivity of pearl millet in semiarid environment. South Pac J Nat Sci. 2009;27:45-8.
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5. Sarala N, Kumar MH, Madhavilatha L, Vajantha B, Hemalatha T. Effect of spacing and fertilizer levels on growth and yield of little millet. Andhra Pradesh J Agric Sci. 2020;6(2):71-4.
6. Siddiqui DA, Sharma GK, Chandrakar T, Thakur AK, Pradhan A. Differential levels of fertilizer and row spacing affects growth and yield of brown top millet (Brachiaria ramosa L.) in entisols of Bastar Plateau Zone of Chhattisgarh. Int J Curr Microbiol Appl Sci. 2020;9(8):3459-72.