Panicum miliaceum (Common millet, Proso millet, Broomcorn millet)

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) >  Monocotyledons >  Order: Poales > Family: Poaceae

Common millet originated in Central Asia and it was probably in this region, or perhaps China that it was domesticated. The process of domestication, as in all cereals, involved selecting for plants that held on to their seeds (rather than scattering them): plants that held on to their seeds were the only ones suitable for harvesting and their seeds were used for planting the next crop - hence there was active selection for non-shattering of seeds. Based on remains of seeds  from archaeological sites, domestication had occurred at least by 4000-5000 BC. 

Worldwide, Common millet is grown mainly in eastern and central Asia, India and the Middle East. It is cultivated to a limited extent in southern Africa. Dehusked grains are cooked like rice or ground up and used for porridge. It is also grown for bird seed and animal feed. Protein content is reasonably high (10-11%) and it is a good source of niacin, thiamin, phosphorus, zinc and moderate levels of iron. 

Publications

• Anon. 2002. Encyclopedia of Foods. A Guide to Healthy Nutrition. Academic Press, San Diego, California. 

• van Wyk, B.-E. & Gericke, N. 2000. People's Plants. A Guide to Useful Plants of Southern Africa. Briza Publications, Pretoria.  

• Zohary, D. & Hopf, M. 1993. Domestication of plants in the old World - The origin and spread of cultivated plants in West Asia, Europe, and the Nile Valley. Clarendon Press, Oxford.