Some plants in my bajra field have heads that turned into twisted green leaf like structures with no grain, while the leaves below were pale earlier.
3 Answers
An ear head that turns into a mass of twisted green leafy structures with no grain, often called green ear, is the classic late sign of downy mildew in bajra, and the pale yellowing of lower leaves with a whitish growth on the underside earlier in the season is the same disease at its leaf stage. It is mostly seed and soil borne and favoured by humid weather, so please confirm with a photo to your KVK or agri officer. For the affected plants this season, pull out and destroy the green ear plants so they do not spread spores, since those heads will not give grain. The lasting control is for next time: choose a downy mildew resistant or tolerant bajra hybrid, use certified seed with the seed treatment your officer recommends, follow crop rotation, and avoid very dense sowing in low lying damp patches. Confirm the resistant variety and any seed treatment with your local KVK before next sowing.
I now grow a hybrid the KVK suggested that resists this and the green ear problem has almost gone from my field.
We rogue out the leafy green heads early and burn them away from the field. Stopped it from spreading to the good plants.