Lost small millets, nearly.
Bromus mango E. Desv.
Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.
Panicum sonorum Beal.
Small millets
Brachiaria deflexa (Schumach) C.E. Hubbard
Brachiaria ramosa (L.) Stapf.
Digitaria cruciata (Nees) A. Camus
Digitaria exilis (Kippist) Stapf.
Echinochloa frumentacea Link
Echinochloa utilis Ohwi et Yabuno
Eleusine coracana Gaertn.
Eragrostis abyssinica Schr.
Panicum miliaceum L.
Panicum sumatrense Roth.
Paspalum scrobiculatum L.
Setaria pumila (Poir.) Roem. & Schult. (syn. S. glauca (L.) P. Beauv.)
Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.
Other millets
Coix lacryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen (Roman.) Stapf.
Pennisetum americanum (L.) Leeke
Sorghum bicolor Moench
Pseudo-millets
Amaranthus caudatus
Amaranthus cruentus
Amaranthus hypochondriacus
Chenopodium
Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.
Fagopyrum tataricum
”ESmall millets with big potential: (Summarized from Dr. K. Riley,
1988)
Small millets are generally grown in traditional agricultural systems,with
low inputs and low productivity. There is a trend to replace millets with
more productive crops such as wheat, maize or rice in more intensive systems.
For exsample, in Sri Lanka, the finger millet area which was associated
with slash and burn agriculture, has decreased as traditional agricultural
methods are replaced by more settled systems. Similarly, in Bangladesh
the increased area now devoted to wheat and rice has resulted in a decrease
in millet area. There are several othercountries where an increase in the
major cereals has resulted in a decrease in the small millet acreage. We
must recognize that there are situations in which major cereals do have
an advantage and should be encouraged. Nevertheless, there are many unique
traits possessed by thedifferent millet species, which should make millets
an important component of improved agricultural systems.
Unique traits of millets:
1. Millets are generally fast maturing, which should enable them to fit
into more intensive cropping systems. A fast maturing millet could be used
as a catch or relay crop in association with other, slower maturing crops.
2. The name millet comes from the word mil or thousand, referring to the
large number of grains that can be grown from a single seed. Rapid multiplication
of seed is generally a relatively simple matter and seed costs are low.
The small seeds of millets generally store well for long periods, ensuring
a continued food supply during dry season or when there is a crop failure.
3. The small millet seeds often require less cooking or preparation time.
This can be an increasingly important factor when women become involved
in more productive farming systems and have less time to devote to food
preparation.””
4. There are a large number of ways of processing millets in traditional
and novel preparations. This can be a factor in increasing the market demand
for millets.
5. There are many difficult or marginal situations in which specific millets
species perform well. Teff, for example is tolerant of water-logged and
acid soils. Proso millet can tolerate both drought and saline soil conditions.
Foxtail millet possesses adaptation to low fertility soils. Because many
millets are fast maturing, they can produce a crop quickly and escape the
onset of stress conditions such as drought.
6. Many varieties of millets have excellent nutritional properties, containing
high levels of essential minerals such as Iron and Calcium. Finger millet
is especially known for its characteristic of providing energy for a long
time after it is consumed. This is an important trait for people who have
jobs that require hard manual work.
7. Millets are not necessarily low yielding crops. Grain yields of finger
millet in field conditions in India and Uganda frequently exceed six tons
per hectare, and foxtail millet can produce similar yields in China. The
lower yields of small milletss compared with yields of major cereals may
be due to selection by farmers, over thousands of years, for tolerance
to difficult conditions rather than for high grain yield per se.
8. Millets are generally highly valued for their fodder. As indicated in
the 1986 Workshop, a new Indian variety of foxtail millet, called SIA 326,
is proving to be extremely popular with the farmers in Andhra Pradesh.
In addition to its high grain yield, This variety has straw which is highly
palatable as livestock feed. The economic value of foxtail millet straw
to these farmers, is almost equal to the value of the grain. Recent work
at the Dryland Agricultural Centre in Bangalore has found that little millet
and barnyard millet produced more forage yield per day under dry conditions
compared to any other forage crops tested.
9. We are painfully aware that agriculture is still vulnerable to crop
failure, often due to flooding or drought, or due to mismanagement of soil
and water resources. Although millets cannot prevent these catastrophes,
millets are known as famine crops, that can ensure a quick food crop when
other crops have failed. In Bangladesh, for example, the millet area this
year is expected to substantially increase, following the worst flooding
in perhaps 100 years.
10. In mountain, or hill areas of Nepal the millet area is increasing,
from 123,000 ha in 1983 to 151,000 ha in 1985. Recent estimates place the
area planted at 235,000 ha. Land races of finger millet in Nepal are adapted
to the extreme variation and harsh conditions in mountain regions. The
above examples indicate that millets have an important role to play as
a component of more sustainable and productive agricultural technology.