Growing Food: A Guide to Food Production

Temperature: warm weather is needed for plant development.
Rainfall: it is more of a “drought avoiding” species than a truly “drought resistant”
one, by virtue of its rapid growth. It has a shallow root system, so it wilts readily,
and also does not recover well from long periods of dry weather.
Altitude: up to 2000 metres ASL.
Weeds: the seedlings compete poorly with weeds, so weeds should be controlled in
young crops.
Diseases: normally not a big problem as Foxtail Millet is normally grown in arid
regions, but the following diseases can reduce yields to some extent: mildews, leaf
spots, green ear, smut and bacterial blight. Seed dressings can give some control, but
this is rarely done.

YIELD
The average yield of foxtail millet is between about 400 and 900 kg/ha of grain or
seed, and between two and twelve MT/ha of hay.

UTILISATION

beer. It can also be fed to animals, after it is ground up thoroughly, or to caged

LIMITATIONS

™

FINGER MILLET

Eleusine coracana

African Millet, Birdsfoot Millet, Korakan or Coracan Millet, Indian Millet,
Ragi (Raggee) Millet, Nagli;
Eleusine, Coracan, Millet de Yokohama (French); Korakan, Ragihirse, Afrikanische
(German); Coracán, Ragi, Mijo Africano, Mijo Coracana, Mijo Digitado (Spanish);
Milheiro (Portuguese—general term for “millets”); Wimbi (Kiswahili); Ragi,
Koracan, Maruwa (India); Bulo (Uganda); Telebun (Sudan); Dagoosha (Tigrinha),
Daguussa (Amharic and Oromifa); Oluko, Kaluku (Angola)

Finger millet is an important staple food in parts of Central and East Africa and India.
In parts of Uganda it is the most important cereal. It is either prepared and eaten like

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Grain—used by humans, either cooked whole, ground into a flour or made into

Whole plant—makes quite good hay and silage, suitable for cattle and sheep.

Yields of foxtail millet tend to be low.

Weeds must be kept well under control.

source.

The hay and silage is not popular with livestock.

There is a shortage of improved varieties, and seed of any kind is often hard to

birds.

GROWING FOOD – THE FOOD PRODUCTION HANDBOOK