Ragi Crop Cultivation in India: Top Producing States

Table of Contents

• Introduction to Ragi Crop in India
• Ragi Cultivation in India
  • Soil and Climate
  • Land Preparation
  • Sowing and Seed Rates
  • Inter Cropping and Crop Rotation
  • Pest Management and Weed Control
  • Irrigation Management
  • Harvesting
• Top 5 Ragi Producing States in India 2024-25

Introduction to Ragi Crop in India

Finger millet, or Ragi, is a gluten-free cereal crop with a low-fat content widely used in Indian diets. It is usually used for making flatbread, cookies, soups, and malts. It has recently been used in finger millet balls, nutribars, pasta, vermicelli, and millet snacks. It is known for its exceptional nutritional value and fulfils the dietary requirements of many people in India. It is rich in fibre and helps with constipation, heart disease, high blood pressure, and other health issues. This is a highly productive and readily available cereal crop in India, making finger millet one of the most popular crops in the country.

Ragi Cultivation in India

Soil and Climate

Finger millet or Ragi can be grown in very poor as well as in very fertile soils. It is grown in all types of soil, including slightly alkaline soils. Alluvial, loamy and sandy soils are best for cultivating finger millet. It is a tropical and subtropical climate day crop which requires a minimum temperature of 8-10°C. For proper growth and high crop yield, the ideal temperature of ragi is 26-29°C. It can also be cultivated up to an altitude of 1200 m.

Land Preparation

Land preparation should be done properly for planting finger millet. The MB plough deeply, and if needed, is followed by twice-ploughing, which is necessary for better growth and germination of the crop. Secondary tillage by the cultivator is essential for preparing the seedbed. The ragi seeds are tiny and can germinate in 5-7 days, so the soil depth should not exceed 2.5 cm.

Sowing and Seed Rates

Line sowing is ideal for finger millet planting. A 4-5 lakhs per hectare plant population is optimum for higher yields. This can be done using a seed drill by giving a spacing of 22.5-30 cm between rows and 7.5-10 cm between plants. A seed rate of 10 kg per hectare is optimum for drill sowing, whereas a seed rate of 5 kg per hectare is ideal for raising seedlings for transplanted conditions. Entire P₂O₅ and K₂O are applied at sowing, while nitrogen application depends upon moisture availability. 7.5 to 10 tonnes per hectare, FYM is ideal for better root growth of ragi.

Inter Cropping and Crop Rotation

The intercropping and crop rotation methods benefit farmers in India. Finger millet intercropping with pigeon pea, soybean, and black gram helps manage multiple crops in the same land space and provides farmers with financial benefits. Crop rotation with legumes such as black gram, rice bean, soybean, horse gram, and groundnut increases overall soil productivity and health, helping achieve sustainable higher yields.

Pest Management and Weed Control

It is essential to control pests and weeds at the initial stage of plant growth. Drying the seeds to maintain moisture levels and applying 1 kg of activated kaolin or 5% malathion D for every 100 kg of seed is necessary for pest management and weed control. Weeding should be done with a hand hoe at 25 DAS, post-emergence application of 2,4-D sodium salt (80%) at 0.75 kg a.i. /hectare at 20-25 DAS. Isoproturon at 0.5 kg a.i./hectare is used for pre-emergence weed control.

Irrigation Management

Irrigation is not usually required in the sowing of ragi because an adequate amount of water is available during the Kharif season, which is the ideal season for finger millet. But when the rain stops for long days, proper irrigation management is essential. 8-14 irrigations are necessary, depending on weather conditions, soil type, and variety duration, to achieve better crop yields.

Harvesting

Harvesting of ragi should be done after the maturing stage of the ear-heads. The short-duration varieties mature in 95-110 days, while medium to late varieties mature in 115-125 days. After harvesting, we get approximately 25-30 q/ha of grain and 60-70 q/ha of fodder.

Top 5 Ragi Producing States in India 2024-25

According to UPAg (Unified Portal for Agricultural Statistics), the total production of Ragi in India in 2024-25 was 19.77 lakh tonnes. The total area of ragi were 12.48 lakh hectare and the yield was 1584 kg/ha. The major ragi producing states are given below: