thumb|Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) seeds, India.

Foxtail millet, scientific name Setaria italica (synonym Panicum italicum L.), is an annual grass grown for human food. It is the second-most widely planted species of millet and the most grown millet species in Asia. The oldest evidence of foxtail millet cultivation was found along the ancient course of the Yellow River in Cishan, China, carbon dated to be from around 8,000 years before present.

Other names for the species include dwarf setaria, foxtail bristle-grass, giant setaria, green foxtail, Italian millet, German millet, and Hungarian millet.

Description

Foxtail millet is an annual grass with slim, vertical, leafy stems which can reach a height of .

The seedhead is a dense, hairy panicle long.

The small seeds, around in diameter, are encased in a thin, papery hull which is easily removed in threshing. Seed color varies greatly between varieties.

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File:Food grain foxtail millet.jpg|Seeds of foxtail millet

File:Japanese Foxtail millet 01.jpg|Mochi-Awa, Japanese foxtail

File:কাউন ক্ষেত.jpg|Millet fields in Bangladesh

Setaria italica MHNT.BOT.2015.34.19.jpg|Setaria italica - MHNT

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Taxonomy

thumb|Japanese botanical drawing of Panicum italicum. From the [[Seikei Zusetsu (1804, volume19).]]

Synonyms:

Common names for foxtail millet in other languages spoken in the countries where it is cultivated include:

  • ()
  • ()
  • ()
  • (ghomi)
  • (ghum<nowiki>'</nowiki>) or ჩხვერი (chkhver<nowiki>'</nowiki>)
  • Gurung : Tohro
  • ()
  • <!--() -->
  • () or ()
  • Kokborok: Maichwi
  • (). The grain obtained from it is called jopsal (좁쌀), a word that is commonly used in Korean as a metaphor for pettiness or innumerable small things (such as bumps of a skin rash)
  • , jawawut
  • Mandarin Chinese: su (粟). Also called xiǎomǐ (小米), which is the term commonly used for the grain after it has been husked (husks have been removed); unhusked grain is called guzi (穀子) in Northern China.
  • or ()
  • Mising: Anyak
  • () or ()
  • / ()
  • () or chumiza ()
  • () or ()
  • (), (), (), (), , or ; (millet flour). The gruel made from millet, the staple of Ancient Tamils, is called , , , or
  • ( or )
  • Karbi: Hanjangmilen

Cultivation

History and domestication

The wild ancestor of foxtail millet has been securely identified as Setaria viridis, which is interfertile with foxtail millet; wild or weedy forms of foxtail millet also exist. Zohary and Hopf note that the primary difference between the wild and cultivated forms is "their seed dispersal biology. Wild and weedy forms shatter their seed while the cultivars retain them." The reference genome for foxtail millet was completed in 2012. Genetic comparisons also confirm that S. viridis is the antecedent of S. italica. Foxtail millet has also been grown in India since antiquity.

The earliest evidence for foxtail millet cultivation outside of its native distribution is at Chengtoushan in the Middle Yangtze River region, dating to around 4000 BC. In southern China, foxtail millet reached the Chengdu Plain (Baodun) at around 2700 BC and Guangxi (near the Vietnamese border) at around 3000 BC. and the Tibetan Plateau (Karuo) at around 3000 BC.

The earliest evidence for foxtail millet in East Siberia comes from the archaeological site at Krounovka 1 in Primorsky Krai, dating to around 3620–3370 BC. The earliest direct evidence for foxtail millet in Korea come from Dongsam-dong Shell Midden, a Jeulmun site in southern Korea, with a direct AMS date of around 3,360 BC. In Japan, the earliest evidence for foxtail millet comes from the Jōmon site at Usujiri in Hokkaido, dating to around 4,000 BP.

It is a warm season crop, typically planted in late spring. Harvest for hay or silage can be made in 65–70 days with a typical yield of of green matter or of hay. Harvest for grain is in 75–90 days with a typical yield of of grain. Its early maturity and efficient use of available water make it suitable for raising in dry areas.

Pests

Diseases of foxtail millet include leaf and head blast disease caused by Magnaporthe grisea, smut disease caused by Ustilago crameri, and green ear caused by Sclerospora graminicola. The unharvested crop is also susceptible to attack by birds and rodents. Insect pests include Atherigona atripalpis, the foxtail millet shoot fly.

Insects

Insect pests include:

  • shoot fly Atherigona atripalpis (major pest)
  • A. approximata, A. pulla, A. punctata, and A. biseta
  • cutworm Agrotis ipsilon
  • stem borer Chilo partellus
  • pink borer, Sesamia inferens
  • corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis

;Leaf feeders

  • armyworms, Mythimna separata, Spodoptera frugiperda, and S. litura
  • leaf-feeding caterpillars Amsacta albistriga, A. moorei and A. lactinea
  • ash weevil Myllocerus undecimpustulatus maculosus
  • leaf beetle Oulema melanopus
  • flea beetle Chaetocnema basalis
  • leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis
  • leaf roller Cnaphalocrocis patnalis
  • surface grasshopper Chrotogonus hemipterus
  • grasshopper Conocephalus maculatus

;Earhead feeders

  • green bug Nezara viridula

;Others

  • bugs, Cletus punctiger, Dolycoris indicus, and Nephotettix virescens
  • aphid Melanaphis sacchari
  • sugarcane leafhopper Pyrilla perpusilla

Agronomic genetics

As with some other cereals the waxy gene contributes to glutinousness.

One study found that – for the rabi crop in Tamil Nadu – breeding for foxtail yield should begin from germplasm with the most productive tillers, medium panicle length and medium duration.

References

  • Alternative Field Crops Manual: Millets