Panicum sumatrense
Encyclopedia
Little Millet is a species of millet
in the family Poaceae
.
, China
, East Asia
and also in the tropics of the continent: India
, Indochina
and Malaysia. The plant can be cultivated in India up to 2000 m above sea level.
It can withstand both drought and waterlogging. It can be cultivated up to 2000 m above sea level.
except that it is smaller. It is an annual herbaceous plant
, which grows straight or with folded blades to a height of 30 cm to 1 m. The leaves are linear, with the sometimes hairy
laminae and membranous hairy ligule
s. The panicle
s are from 4 to 15 cm in length with 2 to 3.5 mm long awn. The grain is round and smooth, 1.8 to 1.9 mm long.
. It can also if necessary be planted spoiled. The green plant can also be used in part as cattle feed. The straw can mixed with clay or cement be used in construction.
The harvest yield is from 230 to 900 kg/ha.
. Sometimes the millet is also milled and baked. The protein content of the grain is 7.7%.
Millet
The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...
in the family Poaceae
Poaceae
The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...
.
Range
In the temperate zones of Asia: the CaucasusCaucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
and also in the tropics of the continent: India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
and Malaysia. The plant can be cultivated in India up to 2000 m above sea level.
It can withstand both drought and waterlogging. It can be cultivated up to 2000 m above sea level.
Description
This species of cereal is similar in habit to the proso milletProso millet
Proso millet is also known as common millet, hog millet or white millet. Both the wild ancestor and the location of domestication of proso millet are unknown, but it first appears as a crop in both Transcaucasia and China about 7,000 years ago, suggesting that it may have been domesticated...
except that it is smaller. It is an annual herbaceous plant
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
, which grows straight or with folded blades to a height of 30 cm to 1 m. The leaves are linear, with the sometimes hairy
Trichome
Trichomes are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants and certain protists. These are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae.- Algal trichomes :...
laminae and membranous hairy ligule
Ligule
A ligule — is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many grasses and sedges or a strap-shaped corolla, such as that of a ray floret in plants in the daisy family....
s. The panicle
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
s are from 4 to 15 cm in length with 2 to 3.5 mm long awn. The grain is round and smooth, 1.8 to 1.9 mm long.
Subspecies
There have been two subspecies described:- Panicum sumatrense Roth ex Roem. & Schult. subsp. psilopodium (Trin.) Wet.
- Panicum sumatrense Roth ex Roem. & Schult. subsp. sumatrense
Cultivation
The largest cultivation is in central India. Usually it is planted using a seed drillSeed drill
A seed drill is a sowing device that precisely positions seeds in the soil and then covers them. Before the introduction of the seed drill, the common practice was to plant seeds by hand. Besides being wasteful, planting was very imprecise and led to a poor distribution of seeds, leading to low...
. It can also if necessary be planted spoiled. The green plant can also be used in part as cattle feed. The straw can mixed with clay or cement be used in construction.
The harvest yield is from 230 to 900 kg/ha.
Preparation
Little Millet is cooked like riceRice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
. Sometimes the millet is also milled and baked. The protein content of the grain is 7.7%.