Teosinte
Introduction:
- Scientific name: Euchlaena maxicana
- Considered a little less nutritious and palatable than maize and has profuse tillering capacity.
- Can withstand heavy monsoon showers or water-logged condition for short time.
- Grows rather slowly at first but comes up fast after establishment.
- Has less tendency to lodge than maize.
- Seeds of the crop aren’t edible as they are very hard and not easy to digest.
Climate:
- Grows vigorously in a higher soil moisture regime than maize.
- Moist conditions are more conducive for growth particularly after the establishment of the crop.
Plant characteristics:
- Annual grass growing upto height of 2-2.5 meters.
- As fairly good tillering capacity unlike maize.
- Inflorescence forms a terminal tassel and the female flowers are found in small ears in leaf axils.
- Seeds are enclosed in thick hulls of each section of the spike.
Soil conditions
- Moist loams to clay loams are best but sandy soils with liberal applications of organic manures can also be effectively utilized.
- A fairly deep rich soil, moist but not wet is the most suitable.
- Saline, alkali, sandy, shallow and swampy soils should be avoided to ensure good fodder yield.
Sowing time
- It is advisable to sow the seeds from early March to the end of July.
Sowing method, spacing and seed rate
- Seeds can be sown behind the plough as maize.
- Broadcasting requires little high seed rate.
- The rows are generally spaced 30-40 cm apart and 50-60 cm in case of less fertile soil.
- Light seeds can be removed by immersing seeds in 2% solution of common salt and separate the floating seeds.
Crop mixture
- It is better if seeds of teosinte are mixed with cowpea, velvet bean, cluster bean, green gram, horse gram, rice bean or field bean.
- In area prone to water-logging, 25 kg of maize seeds should be mixed with 20 kg of teosinte and sown in the same row.
- The proportion of teosinte seeds may be increased in heavy soils where water may stagnate for longer periods than in light soils.
Manuring
- FYM @ 25 t per hectare before sowing.
- Urea 55-60 kg, SSP 170-180 kg and MOP 40-50 Kg may be applied.
- An additional 50 Kg urea may be top-dressed sex weeks after sowing.
- In a two-cut management system, about 70 kg urea may be broadcast after the first cutting and the light application of irrigation, if available.
Harvesting and yield
- The best stage of harvest is about 7-10 days after the appearance of tasse.
- Yields don’t exceed 350 q per hectare.
- As a monsoon crop, it grows in a more congenial environment and can easily yield 450 q/ha.
- Seed rate should be about 20-25 kg/ha for seed production purpose.