Millet

Rare card · No. 25892

Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as a staple cereal crop. Similar to maize and oats amongst other major staple grains, millet and millet-based products are used both as fodder for livestock and as food for humans. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Accounting for 97% of agricultural output amongst developing countries, millets are important crops in the semi-arid tropics of Asia and Africa, especially in India, Mali, Nigeria, and Niger. The crop is favoured for its productivity and short growing season under hot, dry conditions. The term "millets" sometimes is understood to include the widely cultivated sorghum; apart from that, pearl millet is the most commonly cultivated of the millets. Millets may have been consumed by humans for about 7,000 years and potentially had "a pivotal role in the rise of multi-crop agriculture and settled farming societies".

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