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Echinochloa esculenta
Japanese millet (Echinochloa esculenta) is a warm-season annual grass from East Asia, grown mainly for forage, wildlife cover, and small-scale grain. It thrives in warm, humid conditions and tolerates poorly drained, low-fertility soils.
Echinochloa esculenta or Echinochloa utilis is a type of millet originating from East Asia, and is part of the Poaceae family, making it a grass. E. esculenta is colloquially known as Japanese millet, but possesses many other names, such as: Japanese barnyard millet, marsh millet, Siberian millet, and white millet. Its primary usage in the US is for forage and for wildlife habitats. In Japan, Korea and northeastern China, the millet is grown on a small scale primarily for fodder. Japanese millet is not a main cereal crop, and is therefore considered an alternative crop.
Echinochloa species are generally considered to be short-lived, tropical short-day C4 plants that possess high vitality in humid conditions. Seeding is done in spring and flowering takes place in mid summer. Species from this genus show strong adaptation to soils with poor drainage and low fertility.
Echinochloa esculenta is a warm season quick growing grass which can be cut for hay within 50 days of planting. It can be harvested up to 8 times a year.
The average yield is 165kg/ 10 acres. Echinochloa esculenta's strength is that it can be cultivated in upland and paddy fields which are not suitable for paddy rice cultivation. The grain is also optimal for storage due to the tight coating of lemma and palea. The crop is grown around the world for various uses, however, India is among the biggest. Looking into the development of the crop approximately 120 cultivars are grown at the Northeast Agricultural Experiment Station in Japan.
Fodder yield of Japanese millet is about 6.3 tons/ha and contains 7.6% protein, 23% digestible fiber and 2% fat. Echinochloa esculenta and Echinochloa frumentacea are the two major species that are grown for human consumption and livestock feed in this genus. Compared to other major cereals, Echinochloa esculenta contains more micronutrients, especially iron and zinc. All current strains are non-glutinous.
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Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Echinochloa esculenta 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.
