Millets (/ˈmɪlɪts/)[1] are a highly varied group of small-seededgrasses, widely grown around the world ascereal crops or grains forfodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribePaniceae.
Millets are small-grained, annual, warm-weather cereals belonging to the grass family. They are highly tolerant of drought and other extreme weather conditions and have a similar nutrient content to other majorcereals.[7][8]
The genusPennisetum was divided byOtto Stapf in 1934 into the sectionpenicillaria, with 32 species including all the cultivated ones, and four other sections. In 1977, J. Brunken and colleagues classed the wildP. violaceum as part of the cultivated speciesP. glaucum (pearl millet).[9]
Within the Panicoideae, sorghum (great millet[4]) is in the tribeAndropogoneae, while pearl millet, proso, foxtail, fonio, little millet, sawa, Japanese barnyard millet and kodo are in the tribePaniceae.[13][14] Within the Chloridoideae, finger millet is in the tribeCynodonteae, while teff is in the tribeEragrostideae.[13]
The different species of millets are not all closely related. All are members of the familyPoaceae (the grasses), but they belong to differenttribes and subfamilies. Commonly cultivated millets are:[15]
The cultivation of common millet as the earliest dry crop in East Asia has been attributed to its resistance to drought,[21] and this has been suggested to have aided its spread.[22] Asian varieties of millet made their way from China to the Black Sea region ofEurope by 5000 BC.[22]
Millet was growing wild in Greece as early as 3000 BC, and bulk storage containers for millet have been found from theLate Bronze Age inMacedonia and northern Greece.[23]Hesiod states that "the beards grow round the millet, which men sow in summer."[24][25] Millet is listed along with wheat in the third century BC byTheophrastus in hisEnquiry into Plants.[26]
Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica) were important crops beginning in theEarly Neolithic of China. Some of the earliest evidence of millet cultivation in China was found atCishan, where proso millet huskphytoliths and biomolecular components have been identified around 10,300–8,700 years ago instorage pits along with remains of pit-houses, pottery, and stone tools related to millet cultivation.[21] Evidence at Cishan for foxtail millet dates back to around 8,700 years ago.[21] Noodles made from these two varieties of millet were found under a 4,000-year-old earthenware bowl containing well-preserved noodles at theLajia archaeological site in north China; this is the oldest evidence of millet noodles in China.[27][28]
Palaeoethnobotanists have found evidence of the cultivation of millet in theKorean Peninsula dating to the MiddleJeulmun pottery period (around 3500–2000 BC).[29][30] Millet continued to be an important element in the intensive, multicropping agriculture of theMumun pottery period (about 1500–300 BC) in Korea.[30] Millets and their wild ancestors, such asbarnyard grass andpanic grass, were also cultivated in Japan during theJōmon period sometime after 4000 BC.[31][29]
In the Zhengluo region of China, two millet species (foxtail millet and proso millet) were grown, enabling the people to survive thecooling of the global climate around 2200 BC.[32] Chinese myths attribute the domestication of millet toShennong, a legendary emperor of China, andHou Ji, whose name means Lord Millet.[33]
Little millet (Panicum sumatrense) is believed to have been domesticated around 3000 BC in the Indian subcontinent and Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum) around 3700 BC, also in the Indian subcontinent.[34][35] Pearl millet had arrived in theIndian subcontinent by 2000 BC to 1700 BC.[36]Browntop millet (Urochloa ramosa) was likely domesticated in theDeccan near the beginning of the third millennium BCE and spread throughout India, though was later superseded by other millets.[19] Various millets have been mentioned in some of theYajurveda texts, identifyingfoxtail millet (priyaṅgu),Barnyard millet (aṇu) and blackfinger millet (śyāmāka), indicating that millet cultivation was happening around 1200 BC in India.[37] Upon request by theIndian Government in 2018, theFood and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations declared 2023 asInternational Year of Millets.[38] Cultivation ofFinger millet had spread to South India by 1800 BC.[39]
Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) was domesticated in the Sahel region of West Africa fromPennisetum violaceum.[40] Early archaeological evidence in Africa includes finds atBirimi in northern Ghana (1740cal BC) andDhar Tichitt inMauritania (1936–1683 cal BC) and the lower Tilemsi valley inMali (2500 to 2000 cal BC).[40][36] Studies ofisozymes suggest domestication took place north east of theSenegal River in the far west of the Sahel and tentatively around 6000 BC.[40][36]
Finger millet is native to the highlands ofEast Africa and was domesticated before the third millennium BC.[39]
Broomcorn orproso millet (Panicum miliaceum) came to Europe from East Asia as early as the 17th century BC in Vinogradnyi Sad, Ukraine.[41][42] At around 1500 BC it reached Italy and southeastern Europe; around 1400 BC it came to central Europe, and from 1200 BC, it arrived in northern Germany.[43][41]
Pearl millet is one of the two major dryland crops (alongside sorghum[44]) in the semiarid, impoverished, less fertile agriculture regions of Africa and southeast Asia.[45] Millets are not only adapted to poor, dry infertile soils, but they are also more reliable under these conditions than most other grain crops.[45]
Millets, however, do respond to high fertility and moisture. On a per-hectare basis, millet grain production can be 2 to 4 times higher with use of irrigation and soil supplements. Improved varieties of millet with enhanced disease resistance can significantly increase farm yield. There has been cooperation between poor countries to improve millet yields. For example, 'Okashana 1', a variety developed in India from a natural-growing millet variety inBurkina Faso, doubled yields. This variety was selected for trials inZimbabwe. From there it was taken toNamibia, where it was released in 1990 and enthusiastically adopted by farmers. 'Okashana 1' became the most popular variety in Namibia, the only non-Sahelian country where pearl millet—locally known asmahangu—is the dominant food staple for consumers. 'Okashana 1' was then introduced toChad. The variety has significantly enhanced yields inMauritania andBenin.[46]
In 2022, global production of millet was 30.9 milliontonnes.India is the top millet producer worldwide, with 11.8 million tonnes grown annually – some 38% of the world total and nearly triple its nearest rival. Eight of the remaining nine nations in the top 10 producers are in Africa, ranging fromNiger (at 3.7 million tonnes) toChad (0.7 million tonnes); the sole exception isChina, number three in global production, at 2.7 million tonnes.[49]
Per capita consumption of millets as food varies in different parts of the world, with consumption being the highest in Western Africa.[55] In the Sahel region, millet is estimated to account for about 35 percent of total cereal food consumption inBurkina Faso,Chad and theGambia. InMali andSenegal, millets constitute roughly 40 percent of total cereal food consumption per capita, while inNiger and aridNamibia it is over 65 percent (seemahangu). Other countries in Africa where millets are a significant food source includeEthiopia,Nigeria andUganda. Millet is also an important food item for the population living in the drier parts of many other countries, especially in eastern and central Africa, and in the northern coastal countries of western Africa. In developing countries outside Africa, millet has local significance as a food in parts of some countries, such asChina,India,Burma andNorth Korea.[16]
InUkraine, millet was historically a common ingredient in the diet of theZaporozhian Cossacks, in the form of aporridge calledkulish. This dish, primarily made with millet, served with stewed vegetables and meat, cooked in a cauldron, remains a part of modernUkrainian cuisine.[56] In Germany, it is eaten sweet, for example with milk and berries for breakfast.[57] InRussia,millet porridge [ru] also remains common and is promoted for its health benefits.[58] Millet porridge made with pumpkin is particularly common. In theLipetsk Oblast, ritual and daily meals from millet includechichi (Russian:чичи). These are milletfritters.[59]
Millet is sometimes used as aforage crop, to produce animal feed. Compared to forage sorghum, animals includinglambs gain weight faster on millet, and it has betterhay orsilage potential, although it produces less dry matter.[73] Millet does not contain toxicprussic acid, sometimes found in sorghum.[74] The rapid growth of millet as agrazing crop allows flexibility in its use. Farmers can wait until sufficient late spring / summer moisture is present and then make use of it. It is ideally suited toirrigation where livestock finishing is required.[73][74][75]
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