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Cenchrus americanus
Also called African Millet, American Fountaingrass, Babala, Bullrush Millet, Indian Millet, Kaffir Millet, Mhunga
Pearl millet is an annual grass grown as a cereal for grain and fodder, valued for its drought tolerance and ability to thrive in poor, hot soils. It is grown as a summer crop, not as a houseplant or garden ornamental.
Pearl millet (Cenchrus americanus, commonly known as the synonym Pennisetum glaucum) is the most widely grown type of millet. It has been grown in Africa and the Indian subcontinent since prehistoric times. The center of diversity and suggested area of domestication for the crop is in the Sahel zone of West Africa.
Recent archaeobotanical research has confirmed the presence of domesticated pearl millet on the Sahel zone of northern Mali between 2500 and 2000 BCE. The Sahel zone is the species' center of diversity and suggested area of domestication.
Pearl millet is well adapted to growing areas characterized by drought, low soil fertility, low moisture, and high temperature. It performs well in soils with high salinity or low pH. Because of its tolerance to difficult growing conditions, it can be grown in areas where other cereal crops, such as maize or wheat, would not survive. Pearl millet is a summer annual crop well-suited for double cropping and rotations. The grain and forage are valuable as food and feed resources in Africa, Russia, India and China.
Pearl millet is commonly used to make bhakri. It is also boiled to make a Tamil porridge called kamban choru or kamban koozh. In Rajasthani cuisine bajre ki khatti rabdi is a traditional dish made with pearl millet flour and yogurt. Flatbreads made of pearl millet flour are served with various types of kadhi and bhaaji in meals. In Namibia, pearl millet flour is used to make oshifima, a staple food in the northern part of Namibia. In Africa especially Nigeria and some areas, they use millet for making traditional foods like Gruel/porridge and even local beer. The local alcoholic (Burukutu) beverage is often produced in Tropical African countries such as Nigeria, Togo, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Burundi as one of the major traditional and local alcoholic drinks.
Indian sandbur · Buffel grass · Kikuyugrass · Southern sandbur · Mat sandbur · Oriental Fountain Grass · Annual Mission Grass · Elephant Grass · Cenchrus riparius · Crimson Fountaingrass · Birdwood grass · Sandbur
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pearl millet by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
