Millet

Millets refers to a group of annual grasses mainly found in the arid and semiarid regions of the world. Millets belong to 5 genera: Penissetum, Eleusine, Setaria, Panicum and Paspalum. These grasses produce small seeded grains and are often cultivated as cereals.

The millets are of paramount importance in Africa, Asia, China and Russia Federation. Elsewhere in the world, they are treated as minor crops. Millets can be used as grain or forage. When used as grain they are categorized as cereals.

The group millets is often construed to include; pearl (bulrush) millet, finger millet, prosso (golden millet) millet, fox tail millet, Japanese millet, Tef millet, Koda (ditch millet), Brown top millet plus four other species of limited importance.

The origin of millet is diverse with varieties coming from both Africa and Asia.

Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum) for example comes from Tropical West Africa and Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana) from Uganda or neighboring areas. From African highlands, E.coracana was taken to India about 3000 years ago, and Europe at the beginning of the Christian era. Later, the crop was widely distributed both in many African countries as well as in the Indian sub continent.

From Eastern Asia there are varieties such as Froxtail Millet (Setaria italica), Common Millet (Panicum miliaceum), Little Millet (Panicum sumatrense) Barnyard Millet (Echinochloa crus-galli) and Kodo Millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum).

The oldest historical roots of millet are to be found in China 4500 BCE, where it was considered a sacred crop. One of the earliest recorded writings dates from 2800 BCE giving directions for the growing and storing of the grain.

During prehistoric times, people of Northern India were also cultivating millet. Millet's travel continued throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa where it became a staple. It further became typical food of the Sumerian diet about 2500 BCE.

Millet was even mentioned in the Hebrew bible. The idyllic Hanging Gardens of Babylon were said to have included millet among their treasured plants. Through trading with Eritrea and Somalia circa 3000 BCE, the early Egyptians learned from the Africans how to cultivate millet, which would grow well in the dry Sahara, where wheat and barley were unable to thrive.

There are about 6,000 varieties of millet throughout the world with grains varying in color from pale yellow, to gray, white, and red. 3/4/5/6

»  ¹Crop Production in the Tropics and Subtropics at the Institute of Crop
      Science, University Kassel
»  ²Arie von der Velden, Harvesting in the middle hills
»  ³Sorghum and millets in human nutrition. (FAO Food and Nutrition Series, No.
     27) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 1995
»  ⁴Pearl Millet - Sorghum, The Culinary Staples of Rural West Africa Michigan
     Technical University
»  ⁵CGIAR online, Areas of Research: Millet
»  ⁶Zel and Reuben Allen, Vegetarians in Paradise
»  ⁷CAB International, Crop Protection