needed. In India the whole plant is either pulled up or cut off at ground level, then
stacked in the field until dry.
UTILISATION
Finger millet is used in much the same way as pearl and foxtail millets. In parts
of North and Central Zambia finger millet is the main cereal crop. Unlike
sorghum and pearl millet, finger millet is not normally attacked by birds.
It is frequently malted and made into beer.
One great advantage of finger millet is that it can be stored, even in poor
conditions, for up to about 10 years without serious deterioration or weevil
damage, and so it can serve as a valuable famine reserve food.
LIMITATIONS
There are very few problems with finger millet, though yields are often low.
Threshing and cleaning the grain, seedbed preparation and weeding the young
seedlings can be very labour intensive.
The young seedlings are easily overcome by weeds or drought.
The protein content is relatively low, about 5–6%.
Very limited research work is done on this potentially very useful crop.
Most of the improved varieties which are currently available are not adapted to
grow well in marginal conditions.
Oats
Avena sativa
Dousar, Groats, Common Oats, Steel-cut Oats, Cat Grass, Rolled Oats
Avoine (French); Hafer, Saathafer (German); Avena (Spanish); Aveia (Portuguese);
Jaie (Hindi); Yulaf (Persian); Gandiala Ahelee (Pashtu);
Addja (Amharic, Ethiopia); Omborrii (Oromifa, Ethiopia)
Oats are grown throughout the world in the cool, damp parts of temperate regions, or
at high altitudes in the tropics. They are one of the most important temperate cereals
and can be grown in a wider ecological zone than wheat or barley. FAO estimated
that the 2004 global production was 26 million MT, making oats the seventh most
important of the cereals in terms of production. The main producers are the USA,
Belarus, Russia, Kazakstan, Canada, France, Poland, Finland, Germany and
Australia. The production of oats has decreased in many countries as a result of
increasing mechanisation which is replacing horses, the main consumer of oats.
Oats are mainly used as animal food, both the grain and straw being eaten. They
are commonly consumed on the farm, so a high proportion does not reach the
marketplace.
The plants have large, open, spreading panicles (seed heads) with large spikelets,
both awned and awnless (without awns) varieties They are all members of the
Poaceae family and are 99% self-pollinated (cross-pollination is by wind).