Millet

Pearl millet, called bajra in India, is suited to soils of low fertility and limited moisture and is a popular food crop in India and Africa. Little millet (Panicum sumatrense) is also chiefly a food crop of India.

Proso millet—also called common, or broomcorn, millet (Panicum miliaceum)—ripens within 60–80 days after sowing and is commonly used in birdseed mixtures. It is also eaten as a cereal food in Asia and eastern Europe and is used as a livestock feed elsewhere.

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) has small pointed seeds. It is grown for hay in North America and western Europe, and it is an important food crop in China and other Asian countries. Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is an important food grain in southern Asia and parts of Africa. Japanese millet (Echinochloa frumentacea) is grown chiefly in Japan and the United States as a hay crop.