Foxtail millet facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Foxtail millet |
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| Immature seedhead | |
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| Genus: |
Setaria
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| Species: |
italica
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Foxtail millet, known scientifically as Setaria italica, is a type of grass grown every year for people to eat. It's the second most planted type of millet and the most common one grown in Asia.
The oldest proof of foxtail millet farming was found in Cishan, China, near the ancient Yellow River. Scientists used carbon dating to figure out it was grown about 8,000 years ago. Foxtail millet has also been grown in India for a very long time.
This plant has many other names, like dwarf setaria, foxtail bristle-grass, giant setaria, green foxtail, Italian millet, German millet, and Hungarian millet.
Contents
What is Foxtail Millet?
Foxtail millet is an annual grass. This means it completes its life cycle in one year. It has thin, upright, leafy stems. These stems can grow to be about 120 to 200 centimeters (4 to 6.5 feet) tall.
The part of the plant that holds the seeds is called a panicle. It is dense and hairy, growing about 5 to 30 centimeters (2 to 12 inches) long.
The seeds are small, only about 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) across. They are covered by a thin, papery hull. This hull is easy to remove when the seeds are threshed. The color of the seeds can be very different depending on the type of millet.
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Seeds of foxtail millet
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Mochi-Awa, a Japanese food made from foxtail millet
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Millet fields in Bangladesh
Names Around the World
Foxtail millet has many different names in the languages of countries where it is grown:
- In Assamese, it's called Assamese: কণী ধান (koni dhaan).
- In Bengali, it's Bengali: কাওন দানা (kaon dana).
- In Hindi, it's Hindi: कांगणी (Kangni).
- In Georgian, it's Georgian: ღომი (Ghomi).
- In German, it's German: Hirse.
- In Gujarati, it's Gujarati: kang.
- In Gurung, it's Tohro.
- In Hungarian, it's Hungarian: mohar or köles.
- In Japanese, it's Japanese: 粟 (awa).
- In Javanese, it's Javanese: jawawut.
- In Kannada, it's Kannada: ನವಣೆ (navane) or ನವಣಕ್ಕಿ (navanakki).
- In Korean, it's Korean: 조 (jo). The grain is called jopsal (좁쌀).
- In Malay, it's sekoi or jawawut.
- In Malayalam, it's Malayalam: തിന (thina).
- In Mandarin Chinese, it's su (粟) or xiǎomǐ (小米) for husked grain. Unhusked grain is guzi (穀子).
- In Marathi, it's Marathi: kang or राळं (rala).
- In Nepali, it's Nepali: Kaguno.
- In Odia, it's Odia: କଙ୍ଗୁ (kaṅgu) or ଟାଙ୍ଗଣ (ṭāṅgaṇa).
- In Punjabi, it's Punjabi: ਕਂਗਣੀ (Kangni).
- In Russian, it's Russian: могара (mogara) or chumiza (чумиза).
- In Sanskrit, it's Sanskrit: प्रियङ्गुः (priyangu) or कङ्गुः (kangu).
- In Sinhala, it's Sinhala: thana haal.
- In Tamil, it's Tamil: தினை (thinai), and the gruel made from it is called kali.
- In Telugu, it's Telugu: కొర్రలు (korralu or korra).
Where Foxtail Millet Grows
In India, foxtail millet is still a very important crop. It grows well in dry and semi-dry areas. In South India, it has been a main food for people since ancient times. Old Tamil writings often mention it.
In China, foxtail millet is the most common millet. It's a main food crop, especially for people in the dry northern parts of the country. In Southeast Asia, it is often grown in dry, hilly regions. In Europe and North America, it is grown in smaller amounts for hay (animal feed) and silage, and sometimes for birdseed.
In the northern Philippines, foxtail millet used to be a main food. Later, people started growing wet-rice and sweet potatoes instead.
Foxtail millet is a warm-season crop. It is usually planted in late spring. It can be harvested for hay or silage in about 65–70 days. For grain, it takes about 75–90 days to harvest. Because it grows quickly and uses water well, it's a good crop for dry places.
Pests and Diseases
Foxtail millet can get various diseases. These include leaf and head blast disease, smut disease, and green ear disease. Birds and rodents can also attack the crop before it's harvested.
Insect Pests
Many insects can harm foxtail millet:
- The shoot fly (Atherigona atripalpis) is a major pest.
- Other shoot flies like Atherigona approximata and Atherigona pulla.
- Cutworms (Agrotis ipsilon).
- Stem borers (Chilo partellus).
- Pink borers (Sesamia inferens).
- Corn borers (Ostrinia furnacalis).
Some insects eat the leaves:
- Armyworms (Mythimna separata, Spodoptera frugiperda, Spodoptera litura).
- Leaf-feeding caterpillars (Amsacta albistriga, Amsacta moorei).
- Ash weevils (Myllocerus undecimpustulatus maculosus).
- Leaf beetles (Oulema melanopus).
- Flea beetles (Chaetocnema basalis).
- Leaf folders (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis).
- Grasshoppers (Chrotogonus hemipterus, Conocephalus maculatus).
Insects that feed on the earhead (where seeds are):
- Green bugs (Nezara viridula).
Other pests include:
- Bugs like Cletus punctiger and Dolycoris indicus.
- Aphids (Melanaphis sacchari).
- Sugarcane leafhoppers (Pyrilla perpusilla).
History of Foxtail Millet
Scientists believe that foxtail millet came from a wild grass called Setaria viridis. These two plants can still breed with each other. The main difference between the wild and farmed versions is how their seeds spread. Wild plants drop their seeds easily, but farmed ones hold onto them.
The first signs of foxtail millet farming were found in the Peiligang culture in China. It became a very important grain during the Yangshao culture. More recently, the Cishan culture in China is thought to be the first to grow foxtail millet around 6500–5500 BC.
Foxtail millet then spread to other places. It reached the Middle Yangtze River region in China around 4000 BC. It also arrived in Taiwan around 2800 BC and the Tibetan Plateau around 3000 BC.
It likely traveled to Southeast Asia in different ways. The earliest proof in Southeast Asia is from Thailand, dating to about 2300 BC. It also reached East Siberia around 3620–3370 BC and Korea around 3360 BC. In Japan, the earliest evidence is from the Jōmon period in Hokkaidō, about 4,000 years ago.
Foxtail millet arrived in Europe later, in the second millennium BC. The first clear evidence of it being grown in the Near East is from Turkey, around 600 BC.
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See also
In Spanish: Moha para niños
