Pennisetum  glaucum   

COMMON NAME:        Bajra and Pearl millet

BOTANICAL NAME: Pennisetum glaucum   

FAMILY:                            Poaceae (Grass family)

DESCRIPTION-

Pearl millet is a tall, robust, erect, annual bunchgrass. Its height varies depending upon the variety and environment, leaves are long pointed with finely serrated margins, grass-like, numerous and slender. A stem are pithy .The plant tillers freely and produces an inflorescence with a dense spike-like panicle. The mature panicle is brownish in color, and spikelets are borne in fascicles of two, surrounded by a cluster of bristles. Each spikelet has two florets, one of which is generally staminate. The upper floret is fertile, with the caryopsis (seed) being enclosed by the lemma and palea from which it threshes free during harvest. Pearl millets are generally cross-pollinated. Several varieties and hybrids have been developed." Pennisetum glaucum is well adapted to production systems characterized by low rainfall, low soil fertility, and high temperature, and thus can be grown in areas where other cereal crops, such as wheat or maize, would not survive

USES-

• Millets are a large part of the basic diet for farm households in the world's poorest countries and among the poorest people.

•  Millet is an excellent dietary source of calcium, iron, manganese, and methionine -- an amino acid lacking in the diets of hundreds of millions of the poor who live on starchy foods such as cassava, plantain, polished rice, and maize meal.

•   Millet use is diverse, including in cereals (including porridge and kasha), soups, breads and stuffing’s, fermented beverages, and baby food.

• In its traditional growing areas, pearl millet is the basic staple for households in the poorest countries and among the poorest people.

• The grain is consumed in the form of leavened or unleavened breads, porridges, boiled or steamed foods, and (alcoholic) beverages.