Evaluating the Performance of Indigenous Foxtail Millet Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauc. Cultivars under Rainfed Conditions in Nagaland

Background: Foxtail millet (Setaria italica), known for its drought tolerance and nutritional value, is suited to Nagaland conditions. It has however fallen in cultivation due to low profitability, labour issues and limited market access. With renewed interest in millets for health motive, this study assesses the growth, yield and economic performance of indigenous foxtail millet cultivars under rainfed conditions in Nagaland. Methods: A field experiment at the School of Agricultural Sciences (SAS), Nagaland University, Medziphema campus, the kharif season of the year 2022. The experiment aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance of indigenous foxtail millet cultivars in a randomized block design (RBD) with three replications and eight treatments of different indigenous cultivars: Titse, Atsube, Tsu, Titsi, Sherha, Asuna, Chinchang and check variety SiA 3156. Result: The results revealed significant variation in growth and yield attributes among the different cultivars where cultivar Sherha reached early maturity at 75 days, while Chinchang took 95 days. Chinchang also recorded significantly higher growth and yield attributes including highest seed yield (2312 kg ha-1), straw yield (3133 kg ha-1), followed by Titse and Asuna. However the check variety SiA 3156 exhibited a higher number of tillers, number of leaves, number of panicles m-2. Based on this investigation, it can be seen that among the different indigenous foxtail millet cultivars, Chinchang demonstrated superior growth and yield performance, making it the best cultivar evaluated in this study.