Pearl millet facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pearl millet
U.S. pearl millet hybrid for grain
Scientific classification
Genus:	Pennisetum
Species:	glaucum

Pearl milleet after harvesting

Pearl millet is the most widely grown type of millet. It has been grown since prehistoric times. It was problably domesticated in the Sahel zone of West Africa. Evidence that has been found in what is now northern Mali, suggests that domestication of pearl millet happened there between 2500 and 2000 BC. It was then cultivated more widely. There is evidence that around 2000 BC; there was cultivated pearl millet on the Indian subcontinent. It probably reached the south of India around 1500 BC. Cultivation also spread in Africa. Today, it is widely grown in the northern parts of Nigeria. It is easy to grow, and adapted to harsh weather conditions such as drought, and floods. It was introduced to the United States in the 1850s, and to Brazil in the 1960s.

Images for kids

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  Fruiting

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  Flatbreads made of pearl millet flour, known as Bajhar ji maani or Bajre ki roti (बाजरे की रोटी) in Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana, bajrichi bhakri (बाजरीची भाकरी) in Maharashtra & Bajra no rotlo (બાજરા નો રોટલો) in Gujarat, India, are served with various types of Kadhi and Bhaaji in meals.

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  A scientist in Zimbabwe checks a pearl millet crop

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  Mahangu pounding in Namibia

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  Mahangu pounding in Namibia

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  This flour mill in Tanzania mills pearl millet.

See also

In Spanish: Cenchrus americanus para niños