Paisa

Economic importance

Paisa is grown for green fodder and for winter feed conservation. It is readily eaten fresh and preserved.

Composition of dry matter of Paisa at full heading: protein 12.2%; fat 1.3%; fiber 36.6%; nitrogen-free extractives 39.3%, including sugars 8.0%. Composition of dry matter of fodder proso millet: protein 8.9%; fat 1.4%; fiber 33.9%; nitrogen-free extractives 44.0%.

100 kg of dry mass of Paisa contain 61.3 feed units; fodder proso millet 44.8 feed units. 1 feed unit of green mass contains 158 g digestible protein, hay — 145 g.

Paisa grain serves as good feed for poultry; in crushed or ground form — for all animals.

History of cultivation

Paisa has long been grown as a grain and fodder crop in Asian countries: India, China, Japan, and others.

It appeared in Russia in the early 20th century in Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais. Later it began to be cultivated in the European part of Russia, but it has not become widespread.

Yield

According to experimental results of the VNII of Legumes and Groat Crops (Oryol Oblast), the average green-mass yield of Paisa in 1989-1992 was 62.3 t/ha; fodder proso millet — 38.9 t/ha.

Botanical description

Paisa (Echinochloa frumentacea Link.).

The root system is fibrous, well developed, and penetrates the soil to a depth of up to 1.5 m.

The stem is erect, round-flat, branching, well leafy, 50-200 cm high. Tillering is 4-20 and depends on weather conditions and soil fertility.

Leaves are linear-lanceolate, glabrous, sharply rough along the edges.

The inflorescence is a panicle of various shapes with a triquetrous axis, 10-50 cm long. Spikelets are small, contain 2 flowers on short pedicels, green or with an anthocyanin tint, and turn brown after ripening.

The fruit is a small spherical or oval caryopsis, varying in color from white to black. Weight of 1000 seeds is 2-4 g.

Biological characteristics

Paisa is a heat-loving crop. Seeds begin to germinate at a soil temperature of 10-12 °C. Minor frosts are destructive to seedlings. The optimal temperature for growth and development is 18-25 °C.

It is a moisture-loving plant. To obtain a high yield, the annual precipitation must be at least 500 mm, or it must be grown under irrigation.

Vegetation

In its biological characteristics of growth and development, Paisa is similar to other millet-like crops.

In the first half of the growing season it grows slowly. With sufficient moisture and warmth it branches well; new stems form from leaf axils, usually with productive panicles. Maximum leafiness occurs in the phases of full heading and beginning of flowering.

The growing season from sowing to heading lasts 75-80 days, and to seed ripening 110-125 days.

Crop rotation

Good predecessors in crop rotation for Paisa are winter crops and grain legumes, sugar beet, and potato.

Fertilization

Phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied under stubble cultivation or plowing; the recommended application rate is P₆₀K₆₀.

Ammonium forms of nitrogen fertilizers are better applied under fall plowing at a rate of N_45-60; nitrate forms — under the first cultivation in spring.

Soil treatment

The main and pre-sowing tillage is similar to that for other millet-like crops. The main tasks are maximum destruction of weeds and preservation and accumulation of moisture.

After harvesting the predecessor, disk stubble cultivation is carried out to a depth of 8-10 cm to provoke weeds. When their seedlings appear, plowing is carried out to a depth of 22-25 cm.

Since Paisa belongs to small-seeded crops, thorough pre-sowing soil preparation is necessary, just as for proso millet.

Sowing

Paisa is sown at the same time as proso millet or Sudan grass, that is, when the soil warms at a depth of 10 cm to 10-12 °C. In the forest-steppe zone this period usually falls in mid-May, after mass germination of millet-like weeds; in the steppe zone it is earlier.

The sowing method for fodder is ordinary row sowing, seeding rate 3.5-4.0 million seeds/ha, or 12-13 kg/ha. Seed sowing depth is 3-5 cm.

After sowing, the soil is rolled with ring-spur rollers.

Crop care

A characteristic malicious weed in Paisa crops is barnyard grass (common barnyard grass). It is very similar to Paisa, but differs in the anthocyanin color of the basal leaf rosette at the beginning of the growing season (Paisa lacks it).

Against annual weeds, pre-emergence harrowing is carried out with light harrows 4-5 days after sowing across the row direction or diagonally. Paisa seedlings emerge after 10-12 days.

Permitted preparations may be used against weeds; however, when the implement passes over overlaps, a double dose of herbicide must not occur, as this leads to severe suppression of plants.

Harvesting

Harvesting Paisa for fodder begins in the phase of panicle heading — beginning of flowering, that is, 75-80 days after sowing. The best quality of fodder mass is obtained when harvested in the period from full heading to flowering. Plants remain green until full ripening, but fodder qualities decrease greatly. For example, crude protein content at the beginning of heading is 11.4%, during flowering — 12.2%, and at seed ripening — 8.8%.

For green fodder and silage, the mass is mowed with forage harvesters; for hay and haylage — with mowers and headers.

Growing for seed

To obtain Paisa seeds, sowing is carried out by the wide-row method with a row spacing of 45-60 cm, seeding rate 1.5-2.0 million seeds/ha, or 6-7 kg/ha, using vegetable seeders SO-4.2 or SKON-4.2.

In the tillering phase, inter-row cultivation is carried out with cultivators with razor shares or rotary cultivators (KF-5.4). Covering plants with soil during cultivation is not allowed.

Harvesting for seed begins when full ripeness of 2/3 of the seeds in the panicle is reached. Mowing into swaths is carried out with ordinary headers; it is recommended to reduce the header width for better drying of the mass. As the swaths dry, threshing of the swaths is carried out at reduced speed, and primary seed cleaning is done immediately. After harvesting, the seeds are additionally dried and sorted.

Varieties

Perspektiva (2000). The variety was developed by the Povolzhsky NII of Breeding and Seed Production (Samara Oblast).

Evrika (2002). Developed by the Povolzhsky NII of Breeding and Seed Production (Samara Oblast).

Gotika (2006). Developed by the Russian Research and Production Institute of Sorghum and Maize (Saratov).

Krasava (2006). Developed by the VNII of Legumes and Groat Crops (Oryol).

List of sources

1. Vavilov P. P., Gritsenko V. V., Kuznetsov V. S., et al. (1986). Crop Production. Edited by Vavilov P. P. 5th ed., revised and enlarged. Moscow: Agropromizdat.
2. Kolomeichenko V. V. (2007). Crop Production/Textbook. Moscow: Agrobiznescenter.
3. Niklyaev V. S. (2000). Fundamentals of Agricultural Production Technology. Agriculture and Crop Production. Moscow: "Bylina".