What can be done to make sure millet crops are nutrient-rich and high yielding and how does soil quality affect millet crop nutritional quality and yield ?
@ Himanshu, millets are the staple crops of the arid and semiarid tropics, as other food crops cannot be cultivated in that terrain due to low rainfall and poor soil fertility. Millets are gluten-free, highly nutritious and rich in dietary fibre. They are rich in calcium, iron and phosphorus, etc. They are low in Glycemic Index (GI) as such don't cause huge spike in blood sugar. Millets should ideally be an integral part of our daily diet. Millet crop root also a very good host for AM fungi, which help to transport the nutrient from distant places through their mycelium.
Wheat and rice was as nutritious as today's millets till there were grown in eco-friendly environment i.e. organic management but as there production started with intensive use of chemicals, quality deteriorated in same proportion. Therefore, if we want to maintain quality of millets let it should be grown without use of chemicals, in near to nature environment and with use of modern eco- friendly technologies.
Millets are attractive for direct use as nutritious food. The growth of the crop is largely under semi arid and arid environment. Compared to rice this crop would be able to produce under much less water use.
I believe under these conditions zinc deficiency might be prevalent and the nutriional quality and yield fostered by preventing and treating this condition.
The most cost effective way to address that problem would be by using seed treatment and foliar fertilization.
I believe for the systematic production a raised bed system would be effecient if fostering the crop and mixed cropping with gram would be useful.
On the raised bed the millet can be in the center and outise with gram.
If corraled animals could be used for milk production the residues and manures could be put back into production fields to improve the soil quality particularly in organic matter to foster improved water use and capture.
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