Pearl millet in the field
Broomcorn (Panicum miliaceum) and Foxtail millet were important crops beginning in the Early Neolithic of China. For example, some of the earliest evidence of millet cultivation in China was found at Cishan (north) and Hemudu (south). Cishan dates to 7000-5000 B.C. and contained pit-houses, storage pits, pottery, agricultural stone tools, and carbonized Foxtail millet. A 4000 year old well-preserved bowl of noodles made from Foxtail millet and Broomcorn millet was found at the Lajia archaeological site in China.
Palaeoethnobotanists in Canada, Korea, and Japan have found evidence of the cultivation of millet in the Korean Peninsula dating to the Middle Jeulmun pottery period (c. 3500-2000 B.C.). Millet continued to be important element in the multi-cropping intensive agriculture of the Mumun pottery period (c. 1500-300 B.C.) in Korea. Millets and their wild ancestors such as barnyard grass and panic grass were also cultivated in Japan during the Jomon period some time after 4000 B.C.
Major research on millets is carried out by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Andhra Pradesh, India, and by the USDA-ARS at Tifton, Georgia, USA.
Current Uses of millet
Ripe head of proso millet
Millet sprays are often recommended as healthy treats to finicky pet birds, as they are easily eaten and (in the case of destructive-prone hookbills) easily broken. Celiac patients can replace certain cereal grains in their diets by consuming millets in various forms including breakfast cereals.
Millet is a traditionally important grain used in brewing beer in some cultures, for instance by the Tao people of Orchid Island and, along with sorghum, by various peoples in East Africa.
Millet flour (called "Bajari" in Marathi) has been commonly used in Western India for hundreds of years to make the local staple flat bread (called "Bhakri"). Typically, "Bhakri" is made from "Jowar" (Sorghum) flour.
Millet can often be used instead of buckwheat, rice, or quinoa.
Nutrition
The protein contect in millet is very close to that of wheat; both provide about 4 grams cooked. Raw millet provides about 11 grams of protein.
Millet is rich in B vitamins, especially niacin, B6 and folacin, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and zinc. Millet contains no gluten, so it cannot rise for bread. When combined with wheat, though, it can be used for raised bread. Alone, it is suited for flatbread.
As none of the millets are closely related to wheat, they are appropriate foods for those with coeliac disease or other forms of allergy/intolerance of wheat.
Cite: Wikipedia
source : hydroponicsearch
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