Foxtail millet,
scientific name
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
''Setaria italica'' (synonym ''Panicum italicum'' L.), is an annual grass grown for human food. It is the second-most widely planted species of
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae.
Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
, and the most grown millet species in Asia. The oldest evidence of foxtail millet cultivation was found along the ancient course of the
Yellow River
The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
in
Cishan, China,
carbon dated to be from around 8,000 years before present.
Foxtail millet has also been grown in India since antiquity.
Other names for the species include dwarf setaria, foxtail bristle-grass, giant setaria, green foxtail, Italian millet, German millet, and Hungarian millet.
Description
Foxtail millet is an
annual grass
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
with slim, vertical, leafy stems which can reach a height of .
The seedhead is a dense, hairy
panicle
In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...
long.
The small seeds, around in diameter, are encased in a thin, papery hull which is easily removed in
threshing
Threshing or thrashing is the process of loosening the edible part of grain (or other crop) from the straw to which it is attached. It is the step in grain preparation after reaping. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain.
History of ...
. Seed color varies greatly between varieties.
File:Food grain foxtail millet.jpg, Seeds of foxtail millet
File:Japanese Foxtail millet 01.jpg, ''Mochi
A mochi ( ; Japanese ) is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain Japonica rice, japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste and molded into the ...
-Awa'', Japanese foxtail
File:কাউন ক্ষেত.jpg, Millet fields in Bangladesh
Setaria italica MHNT.BOT.2015.34.19.jpg, ''Setaria italica'' - MHNT
Taxonomy
Synonyms:
Common names for foxtail millet in other languages spoken in the countries where it is cultivated include:
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ka, ღომი (''ghomi'')
* (''ghum
''') or ჩხვერი (''chkhver
''')
*
*
Gurung
Gurung (exonym; ) or Tamu (endonym; Gurung language, Gurung: ) are a Tibetan people, Tibetan ethnic group living in the hills and mountains of Gandaki Province of Nepal. Gurungs speak Tamu kyi which is a Sino-Tibetan language derived from the ...
: ''Tohro''
* ()
*
*
* () or ()
* (). The grain obtained from it is called ''jopsal'' (좁쌀), a word that is commonly used in Korean as a metaphor for pettiness or innumerable small things (such as bumps of a skin rash)
*, jawawut
*
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...
: ''su'' (粟). Also called ''xiǎomǐ'' (小米), which is the term commonly used for the grain after it has been husked (husks have been removed); unhusked grain is called ''guzi'' (穀子) in Northern China.
* or ()
*
Mising: ''Anyak''
*
* () or ()
*/ ()
* () or ''chumiza'' ()
* () or ()
*
* (), (), (), (), , or ; (millet flour). The gruel made from millet, the staple of Ancient Tamils, is called , , , or
* ( or )
*
Karbi: ''Hanjangmilen
Cultivation
In India, foxtail millet is still an important crop in its arid and semi-arid regions.
In South India, it has been a staple diet among people for a long time from the
Sangam period
The Sangam literature ( Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' ( Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ''), connote ...
. It is referred to often in old
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
texts and is commonly associated with Lord
Muruga and his consort
Valli
Valli () is a devi, Hindu goddess, and the second consort of the deity Murugan. An incarnation of the goddess Sundaravalli, daughter of Vishnu, Valli is born on earth as the daughter of a chieftain, leading a life of a huntress. Murugan, the god ...
.
In
Karbi Anglong district
Karbi Anglong district is an District, administrative unit in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Assam. It is an autonomous district administered by the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) according to the provisions ...
of Assam, India, millets have been an integral part of the food system of the Karbis as well as the
Jhum
Jhum or Jhoom cultivation is the form of slash-and-burn agriculture that is practised in certain parts of Northeast India and by the indigenous communities in Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. It is a traditional agricultural technique t ...
fields. Hanjangmilen, Karbi name of foxtail millets have been visible in the Jhum fields in the past. But today it is hardly visible in the Jhum fields. But farmers are now bringing the traditional crop back into their food system which needs little water, grows well on poor soil, is fast-growing and suffers from very few diseases.
In China, foxtail millet was the main
staple food
A staple food, food staple, or simply staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction of energy needs an ...
in the north before
Sung Dynasty, when wheat started to become the main staple food. It is still the most common millet and one of the main food crops in the dry northern part of the country, especially among the poor. In Southeast Asia, foxtail millet is commonly cultivated in its dry, upland regions.
In Europe and North America it is planted at a moderate scale for hay and silage, and to a more limited extent for
birdseed.
In the northern
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, foxtail millet was once an important staple crop, until its later replacement by wet-rice and sweet potato cultivation.
It is a warm season crop, typically planted in late spring. Harvest for
hay
Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...
or
silage
Silage is fodder made from green foliage crops which have been preserved by fermentation (food), fermentation to the point of souring. It is fed to cattle, sheep and other ruminants. The fermentation and storage process is called ''ensilage'', ' ...
can be made in 65–70 days with a typical yield of of green matter or of hay. Harvest for
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
is in 75–90 days with a typical yield of of grain. Its early maturity and efficient use of available water make it suitable for raising in dry areas.
Pests
Diseases of foxtail millet include leaf and head blast disease caused by ''
Magnaporthe grisea
''Magnaporthe grisea'', also known as rice blast fungus, rice rotten neck, rice seedling blight, blast of rice, oval leaf spot of graminea, pitting disease, ryegrass blast, Johnson spot, neck blast, wheat blast and , is a plant-pathogenic fungus ...
'',
smut disease caused by ''
Ustilago crameri'', and green ear caused by ''
Sclerospora graminicola''. The unharvested crop is also susceptible to attack by
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s and
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
s. Insect pests include ''
Atherigona atripalpis'', the foxtail millet shoot fly.
Insects
Insect pests include:
*shoot fly ''
Atherigona atripalpis'' (major pest)
*''
A. approximata'', ''
A. pulla'', ''
A. punctata'', and ''
A. biseta''
*cutworm ''
Agrotis ipsilon
''Agrotis ipsilon'', the dark sword-grass, ipsilon dart, black cutworm, greasy cutworm or floodplain cutworm, is a small Noctuidae, noctuid moth found worldwide. The moth gets its scientific name from black markings on its forewings shaped like t ...
''
*stem borer ''
Chilo partellus''
*pink borer, ''
Sesamia inferens''
*corn borer, ''
Ostrinia furnacalis
''Ostrinia furnacalis'' is a species of moth in the family Crambidae, the grass moths. It was described by Achille Guenée in 1854 and is known by the common name Asian corn borer since this species is found in Asia and feeds mainly on corn crop ...
''
;Leaf feeders
*armyworms, ''
Mythimna separata'', ''
Spodoptera frugiperda
The fall armyworm (''Spodoptera frugiperda'') is a species in the order Lepidoptera and one of the species of the fall armyworm moths distinguished by their larval life stage. The term "armyworm" can refer to several species, often describing the ...
'', and ''
S. litura''
*leaf-feeding caterpillars ''
Amsacta albistriga'', ''
A. moorei'' and ''
A. lactinea''
*ash weevil ''
Myllocerus undecimpustulatus maculosus''
*leaf beetle ''
Oulema melanopus''
*flea beetle ''
Chaetocnema basalis''
*leaf folder ''
Cnaphalocrocis medinalis''
*leaf roller ''
Cnaphalocrocis patnalis''
*surface grasshopper ''
Chrotogonus hemipterus''
*grasshopper ''
Conocephalus maculatus''
;Earhead feeders
*green bug ''
Nezara viridula
''Nezara viridula'', commonly known as the southern green stink bug (USA), southern green shield bug (UK) or green vegetable bug (Australia and New Zealand), is a plant-feeding stink bug. Believed to have originated in Ethiopia, it can now be f ...
''
;Others
*bugs, ''
Cletus punctiger'', ''
Dolycoris indicus'', and ''
Nephotettix virescens''
*aphid ''
Melanaphis sacchari
The sugarcane aphid, (''Melanaphis sacchari''), is an aphid in the superfamily Aphidoidea in the order Hemiptera. It is a true bug and sucks sap from plants. It is mostly found in '' Saccharum'' and ''Sorghum'' species. The species primarily re ...
''
*sugarcane leafhopper ''
Pyrilla perpusilla''
History and domestication
The
wild ancestor of foxtail millet has been securely identified as ''
Setaria viridis'', which is
interfertile with foxtail millet; wild or
weed
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...
y forms of foxtail millet also exist. Zohary and Hopf note that the primary difference between the wild and cultivated forms is "their seed dispersal biology. Wild and weedy forms
shatter their seed while the cultivars retain them."
The
reference genome
A reference genome (also known as a reference assembly) is a digital nucleic acid sequence database, assembled by scientists as a representative example of the genome, set of genes in one idealized individual organism of a species. As they are a ...
for foxtail millet was completed in 2012.
Genetic comparisons also confirm that ''S. viridis'' is the antecedent of ''S. italica''.
The earliest evidence of the cultivation of this grain comes from the
Peiligang culture
The Peiligang culture was a Neolithic culture in the Yi-Luo river basin (in modern Henan Province, China) that existed from about 7000 to 5000 BC. Over 100 sites have been identified with the Peiligang culture, nearly all of them in a fairly ...
of China, which also cultivated ''
Panicum miliaceum'', but foxtail millet became the predominant grain only with the
Yangshao culture
The Yangshao culture ( zh, c=仰韶文化, p=Yǎngsháo wénhuà) was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The Yangshao culture saw social and ...
.
More recently, the
Cishan culture
The Cishan culture (6500–5000 BC) was a Neolithic culture in northern China, on the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains. The Cishan culture was based on the farming of broomcorn millet, the cultivation of which on one site has been dat ...
of China has been identified as the earliest to domesticate foxtail millet around 6500–5500 BC.
The earliest evidence for foxtail millet cultivation outside of its native distribution is at
Chengtoushan in the Middle Yangtze River region, dating to around 4000 BC.
In southern China, foxtail millet reached the
Chengdu Plain (
Baodun) at around 2700 BC and Guangxi (near the Vietnamese border) at around 3000 BC.
Foxtail millet also reached Taiwan (Nankuanli,
Dapenkeng culture) at around 2800 BC and the
Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...
(
Karuo) at around 3000 BC.
Foxtail millet likely reached Southeast Asia via multiple routes.
The earliest evidence for foxtail millet in Southeast Asia comes from various sites in the Khao Wong Prachan Valley in central Thailand, with the site at Non Pa Wai providing the earliest date with direct
AMS dating to around 2300 BC.
The earliest evidence for foxtail millet in East Siberia comes from the archaeological site at Krounovka 1 in
Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai, informally known as Primorye, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krais of Russia, krai) of Russia, part of the Far Eastern Federal District in the Russian Far East. The types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...
, dating to around 3620–3370 BC.
The earliest direct evidence for foxtail millet in Korea come from
Dongsam-dong Shell Midden, a
Jeulmun site in southern Korea, with a direct AMS date of around 3,360 BC.
In Japan, the earliest evidence for foxtail millet comes from the
Jōmon site at Usujiri in
Hokkaido
is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...
, dating to around 4,000
BP.
Foxtail millet arrived in Europe later; carbonized seeds first appear in the
second millennium BC in central Europe. The earliest definite evidence for its cultivation in the Near East is at the
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
levels at
Tille Hoyuk in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, with an uncorrected
radiocarbon
Carbon-14, C-14, C or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic matter is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...
date of about 600 BC.
Agronomic genetics
As with some other
cereal
A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...
s the ''waxy'' gene contributes to
glutinousness.
The wild relative ''
Setaria viridis'' provides
genetic resources
Genetic resources are genetic material of actual or potential value, where genetic material means any material of plant, animal, microbial genetics, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity.
Genetic resources is one of the ...
useful for foxtail
breeding
Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant.
Breeding may refer to:
* Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...
.
One study found that – for the
rabi crop
Rabi crops or the rabi harvest, also known as winter crops, are crop, agricultural crops that are sown in winter and harvested in the spring in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Complementary to the rabi crop is the kharif crop, which is grown a ...
in
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
– breeding for foxtail
yield should begin from
germplasm
Germplasm refers to genetic resources such as seeds, tissues, and DNA sequences that are maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, conservation efforts, agriculture, and other research uses. These resources may take the form of s ...
with the most productive
tiller
A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn ...
s, medium
panicle
In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...
length and medium duration.
References
External links
Alternative Field Crops Manual: Millets
{{Authority control
Millets
Setaria
Grasses of Asia
Plants described in 1753
Cereals