Talk:Finger millet

This is currently a mixed page - Finger millets (Eleusine coracana) is an African species, not found in Asia; the plant grown there (and referred to on this page) is the related Eleusine indica, a.k.a. Fowlfoot grass.

Two options:

1. Move the page to Eleusine so that it covers both species (and a third not yet mentioned, E. africana), with redirects from both common names (my preference), or
2. Cut the Asian details and transfer them to a new page (which would still require an Eleusine genus page)

Anyone any opinions? MPF 14:35, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

On second thoughts (given the cultivation info now added for Asia, keep the page as it is, it makes more sense now - MPF 1 July 2005 23:48 (UTC)

E. indica is a weed species; E. coracana is indeed the crop grown in Africa and Asia, so this page is correct. See for example [1] and [2]Mark Nesbitt 21:57, 19 January 2006 (UTC)Reply

Feel free to use the photos below uploaded by me. -- Sundar ^{\talk \contribs} 09:11, 15 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

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Tamil has a name of curakkan(குரக்கன்) too. கேழ் வரகு not used at all in Jaffna. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.173.243.204 (talk) 19:56, 7 July 2011 (UTC)Reply

The Gurajati name shown for this grain appears to be in error. Bajri/Bajra is 'pearl millet', while this article is about 'finger millet' known in India variously as raagi, naachNi, etc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by AjitDongre (talk • contribs) 04:19, 6 September 2011 (UTC) Musa aromatica (talk) 22:16, 18 December 2016 (UTC)Reply

Finger millet or Latin Eleusine coracana is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiard areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and self-pollinating species probably evolved from its wild relative Eleusine africana^[1].

Finger millet is native to the Ethiopian and Ugandan highlands^[1]. Interesting crop characterists of finger millet are the ability to withstand cultivation on altitudes over 2000 meters above sea level, its favorable micronutrient contents (high iron and methionine content in particular), high draught tolerance and a very long storage time^[1].

Main cultivation areas are east and southern African countries (Uganda, Kenya, Zaire, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Sudan, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique) and southern Asia (mainly India and Nepal)^[1].

Finger millet originated in East Africa (Ethiopian and Ugandan highlands^[1]) and came to India (Hallur region of Karnataka) around 2000 BCE. It has been found in an Indian archaeological site dated to 1800 BCE (later iron age).^[6]

Finger millet is a short-day plant with a growing optimum at 12 h daylenght for most varieties. Its main growing area ranges from 20° N to 20° S, meaning mainly the semiarid to arid tropics. Nevertheless, finger millet is found to be grown at 30° N in the Himalaya region (India and Nepal). It is generally considered as a drought tolerant crop. But compared with other millets, such as pearl millet and sorghum it preferes moderate rainfall (≥500 mm annually). The majority of world wide finger millet farmers grow it rainfed, although yields often can be significantly improved when irrigation is applied. In India, finger millet is a typical rabi (= dry season) crop. Heat tolerance of finger millet is high. For Ugandan finger millet varieties for instance, the optimal average growth temperature ranges at about 27 °C, while the minimal temperatures shouldn't be lower than 18 °C. Relatively to other millet species (pearl millet and sorghum) finger millet has a higher tolerance to cool temperatures. It is grown from about 500 meters above sea level up to about 2400 meters above sea level (e.g. in Himalaya region). By that, it can be cultivated on higher elevations than most tropical crops. Finger millet can grow on various soils, including highly weathered tropical lateritic soils. Furthermore, it can tolerate salinity up to a certain extent. Its ability to bear waterlogging is limited, therefore good drainage of the soils and moderate water holding capacity are optimal^[1]. Finger millet can tolerate moderately acidic soils (pH 5) but also moderately alkaline soils (pH 8.2)^[2].

Weeds are the major biotic stresses for finger millet cultivation. Its seeds are very small, which leads to a relatively slow development in early growing stages. This makes finger millet a weak competitor for light, water and nutrients compared with weeds^[3]. In east and southern Africa, the closely related species Eleusine indica (common name goose grass^[3]) is a severe weed competitor of finger millet. Especially in early growing stages of the crop and the weed and when broadcast seeding instead of row seeding is applied (as often the case in east Africa), the two species are very difficult to distinguish^[1]. Besides Eleusine indica, the species Xanthium strumarium, which is animal disperesed and the stolon-owning species Cyperus rotondus and Cynodon dactylon are important finger millet weeds^[3]. Measures to control weeds include cultural, physical and chemical methods. Cultural methods could be sowing in rows instead of broadcast sowing in order to make distinction between finger millet seedlings and Eleusine indica easier for hand weeding^[1]. ICRISAT promotes cover crops and crop rotations to discrupt the growing cycle of the weeds. Physical weed control in resourse limited farming communities growing finger millet are mainly hand weeding or weeding with a hand hoe^[3].

Finger millet is generally seen as not very prone to pests and diseases. Nonetheless, finger millet blast, caused by the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe grisea (anamorph Pyricularia grisea), can locally cause severe damages, especially when untreated^[1]. In Uganda, yield losses up to 80% were reported in bad years. The pathogen leads to drying out of leaves, neck rots and ear rots^[2]. These symptoms can drastically impair photosynthesis, translocation of photosynthetic assimilates and grain filling and therefore reduce yield and grain quality. Finger millet blast can also infest finger millet weeds such as the closely related Eleusine indica, Eleusine africana or Digitaria spp., Setaria spp. and Doctylocterium spp^[3]. Finger millet blast can be controlled with cultural measures, chemical treatments and the use of resistant varieties. Cultural measures suggested by ICRISAT for eastern Africa include finger millet crop rotations with non-host crops like legumes, deep ploughing under of finger millet straw on infected fields, washing of field tools after use to prevent dissemination of the pathogen to non-infected fields, weed control to reduce infections by weed hosts and avoiding of high plant densities by adapted sowing to impede the pathogen dispersal from plant to plant^[2]. Chemical measures can be the application of systemic fungicides, such as the active ingredients pyroquilon or tricyclazone or seed dressings with fungicides containing trycyclozole^[2][4].

Another pathogen of relevance in the finger millet cultivation is the fungus Helminthosporium nodulosum, causing leaf blight^[5].

Important finger millet pests are bird predators, such as quelea in east Africa^[1]. The pink stem borer (Sesamia inferens) and the shoot fly (Atherigona milliaceae) are considered as the most relevant insect pests^[5]. Measures to control Sesamia inferens are uprooting of infected plants, destroying of stubbles, doing a crop rotation, chemical control or biological measures such as pheromone traps or biological pest control with the use of antagonistic organisms (e.g. Sturmiopsis inferens)^[6]. Musa aromatica (talk) 22:16, 18 December 2016 (UTC)Reply

Once harvested, the seeds keep extremely well and are seldom attacked by insects or moulds. Finger millet can be kept for up to 10 years when it is unthreshed. Some sources report a storage duration up to 50 years under good storage conditions^[1]. The long storage capacity makes finger millet an important crop in risk-avoidance strategies for poorer farming communities.

As a first step of processing finger millet can be milled to produce Flour. However, finger millet is difficult to mill due to the small size of the seeds and because the Bran is bound very tightly to the Endosperm. Furthermore the delicate seed can get crushed during the milling. The development of commercial mechanical milling systems for finger millet is challenging. Therefore the main product of finger millet is Whole_Grain flour. This has disadvantages such as reduced storage time of the flour due to the oil that is contained in the grain, furthermore the industrial use of whole grain finger millet flour is limited. Recently a new milling system was developed in India, which is able to grind finger millet grains. This milling system is called Mini Millet mill. The mini millet mill takes into account the traditional knowledge of the farmers and moistens the seeds half an hour before grinding. Moistening the millet seeds prior to grinding helps to remove the bran mechanically without causing damage to the rest of the seed. The mini millet mill can also be used to process other grains such as Wheat and Sorghum. The Mini Millet Mill could be promising as it yields white flour which can be commercially used ^[1][2].

Another method to process the finger millet grain is germinating the seed. This process is also called Malting_process and is very common in the production of brewed beverages such as Beer. When finger millet is germinated, enzymes are activated which transfer starches into carbohydrates such as sugar. Finger millet has good malting activity. The malted finger millet can be used as a substrate to produce for example gluten-free beer or easily digestible food^[1].

Aniriuq (talk) 20:20, 19 December 2016 (UTC)Reply

Finger millet monocrops grown under rainfed conditions are most common in drier areas of Eastern Africa. Tropical Central Africa supports scattered regions of finger millet/legume intercrop. Finger millet is grown as mixed crop with cassava, plantain and vegetables. Finger Millet is most commonly rotated with legumes such as cowpea or pigeon pea in Eastern Africa. Most commonly practiced crop mixture in South India that involve finger millet are:^[1]

• With legumes: Finger millet/dolichos, finger millet/pigeonpea, finger millet/black gram, finger millet/castor
• With cereals: Finger millet/maize, finger millet/foxtail millet, finger millet/jowar, finger millet/little millet
• With other species: Finger millet/brassicas, finger millet/mustard

Propagation in Finger Millet farming is done mainly by seeds. In rainfed crop the 4 sowing methods are used:

• Broadcasting: Seeds are directly sown in the field. This is the common method because it is the easiest way and no special machinery is required. The organic weed management with this method is a problem, because it is difficult to distinguish between weed and crop.
• Line Sowing: Improved sowing compared to broadcasting. Facilitates organic weed management due to better distinction of weed and crop. In this method, spacing of 22cm to 30cm between lines and 8cm to 10 cm within lines should be maintained. The seeds should be sown about 3cm deep in the soil.
• Drilling in rows: Seeds are sown directly in the untreated soil by using a direct-seed drill. This method is used in conservation agriculture.
• Transplanting the seedlings: Raising the seedlings in nursery beds and transplant to the main field. Leveling and watering of beds is required during transplanting. Seedlings with 4 weeks age should be transplanted in the field. For early Rabi and Kharif season, seedlings should be transplanted at 25cm x 10cm and for late Kharif season at 30cm x 10cm. Planting should be done 3cm depth in the soil ^[1] .

Crop does not mature uniformly and hence the harvest is to be taken up in two stages. When the earhead on the main shoot and 50% of the earheads on the crop turn brown, the crop is ready for the first harvest. At the first harvest, all earheads that have turned brown should be cut. After this drying, threshing and cleaning the grains by winnowing. The second harvest is around seven days after the first. All earheads, including the green ones, should be cut. The grains should then be cured to obtain maturity by heaping the harvested earheads in shade for one day without drying, so that the humidity and temperature increase and the grains get cured. After this drying, threshing and cleaning as after the first harvesting.

Musa aromatica (talk) 20:29, 19 December 2016 (UTC)Reply

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In Nepal, 877 accessions of Nepalese finger millet (kodo) have been maintained by the National Plant Genetic Resource Centre at Khumaltar.

Wonderful! What's an accession? —Tamfang (talk) 00:00, 28 May 2021 (UTC)Reply

Accessions are unique samples conserved in a genebank. This shouldn't have been in the summary para. Ideally it would be under a section called 'Conservation' which talks about conservation of finger millet crop diversity. For now I put the statement under Uses --> South Asia --> Nepal Chromista (talk) 01:01, 7 June 2021 (UTC)Reply

Use of the nutrition table indicated here is justified because 1) the USDA FoodData Central data here (search millet) provides data for 4 millet preparations: raw, puffed, cooked, and flour - the only edible form not subjected to heat, which would change some of the nutrition values; and 2) under Processing in the article, the first sentence states that the first step in consuming millet is to make the flour. The IP user reverting use of the table states that the nutrient analysis is for a "mixture of all millets" - that isn't what the USDA data state, but rather the data are for "millet flour" and are informative. We should use the nutrition table for flour as the best representative information on millet nutrients. Zefr (talk) 19:18, 2 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

First of all, millet is a group of cereals and includes many different species. Would you just consider nutritional information about wheat for all grains?

Second, USDA does provide 4 pages for "millets". It looks like all the four preparations come from the same millet - the Proso millet. This is mentioned in two of those links - puffed Millet and raw Millet. So clearly, USDA data for millet is not for finger millet.

We should use the nutrition table for flour as the best representative information on millet nutrients.

No, definitely not. That would be clearly misleading. Any information, if present, must be completely accurate. If you want, there are a couple of nutrition sources for finger millet that I was able to gather -

• Review of Finger millet
• ELEUSINE CORACANA (WIMBI) 2406:7400:75:13D2:740C:C11E:AAD8:A3CD (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 20:24, 2 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

The nutrition table in this article is for a different millet - the Proso millet, and hence must be removed. 2406:7400:75:EE6E:3103:7660:E6AB:3533 (talk) 07:20, 11 March 2022 (UTC)Reply

I added this edit with a nutrition table using data from the BDFN source here which is a replication of data from this source. The journal Food Science and Human Wellness is Chinese with little history on PubMed, and the content of the original article has numerous misleading statements about millet health benefits and antidisease effects, making it a dubious source for the article. Not convinced about the accuracy of the nutrition data or value of the source, as we normally use the USDA database, but there is no USDA entry specifically for E. coracana. Zefr (talk) 21:38, 11 June 2022 (UTC)Reply

Is there a reason we're using the Latin name for this crop plant? "Finger millet" is not only the most common, but the only name in English for this, and it refers exclusively to E. coracana so there's no risk of confusion either. Jpatokal (talk) 02:15, 1 March 2024 (UTC)Reply

It has been proposed that Ragi flour move here; that seems reasonable to me, given that the Ragi flour page is so short; merging would also provide better context and reduce overlap with the material already here. Klbrain (talk) 08:16, 29 April 2024 (UTC)Reply

    Y Merger complete. Klbrain (talk) 12:44, 12 September 2024 (UTC)Reply