Millets consists several grass, it does refer to a single grain. Millet is the collective name for a number of cereal species of importance as food crops in tropical and subtropical countries or as forage crops in more northern climates.
Millets grows well in arid regions with poor soils and are valued for their relatively high protein content among the cereals.
Important millet species include: Eleusine coracana (finger millet), Setaria italica (foxtail millet), Echinochloa crus-galli (Japanese barnyard millet), Pennisetum glaucum (pearl millet), and Panicum miliaceum (proso millet).
Finger millet was domesticated in north eastern tropical Africa. It is now a staple in the eastern and central parts of the continents.
Millet forms only 1.5% of the total global cereal crop and is primarily grown for food.
In some parts of Africa and India, where millet has for centuries been an important cereal crop, the grain had multiple applications.
It may be boiled and pounded into a porridge or mush, or it can be ground into flour, formed into thin disks with water, then cooked on a hot surface to make one form of the Indian flatbread called chapatis.
Cereal crop of millet
