Fonio millet

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fonio millet
Fonio moissonné et entassé au champ (Mali) .jpg

Fonio millet ( Digitaria exilis )

Systematics
Monocots
Commelinids
Order : Sweet grass (Poales)
Family : Sweet grasses (Poaceae)
Genre : Fingergrass ( Digitaria )
Type : Fonio millet
Scientific name
Digitaria exilis
( Kippist ) Stapf

The fonio ( Digitaria exilis ), even hunger rice , hunger millet and Acha called, is a cereal from the genus of finger millet ( Digitaria ) in the family of the sweet grasses (Poaceae), of which there many landraces are. The Iburu ( Digitaria iburua ), also known as the "Black Fonio", belongs to the same genus .

description

The Fonio millet is an annual , upright, herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 35 to 75 centimeters. It has short leaves . The finger ears consist of two to five narrow partial ears that are up to 15 centimeters long. The spikelets are single-flowered. The caryopses are very small with one to 1.5 millimeters; the color ranges from white to yellowish to purple.

According to various sources, Fonio ripens faster than all other types of grain. Some varieties can be harvested as early as six to eight weeks after sowing. Others ripen more slowly, usually in 165 to 180 days.

ingredients

The grains contain an average of 6% water, 8.7% protein, 1.1% fat, 81% carbohydrates, 1.1% crude fiber and 2.1% ash. The proteins should be better tolerated than those of other types of millet. Fonio is rich in methionine and cystine , two amino acids that are essential for humans .

Distribution and location

Fonio millet growing area in Africa
Harvest in Mali

The distribution area extends from tropical West Africa to Cameroon . In Africa, this species can also be grown on dry savanna locations and can withstand temporary drought. However, it is sensitive to excessive drought. High amounts of rain are tolerated well. The limits are around 250 mm annual precipitation or 1500 mm. The main cultivation areas have more than 400 mm of annual precipitation. Although Fonio is partly grown at sea level, the main growing areas are at altitudes above 600 meters.

The fonio millet can withstand very poor soils and also thrives in locations where no other grain grows. It is mainly grown on poor, sandy soils, but it also grows on rocky soils. In contrast to almost all other crops, Fonio also thrives on acidic clay soils with a high aluminum content. Most varieties do poorly on heavy soils.

Fonio is said to be one of the oldest African cereals. There is no information about the distribution of the wild form, but it can be assumed that this is in West Africa, where today's land races are also grown.

Cultivation

Harvest quantities 2017
(in tons)
country harvest
Guinea-aGuinea Guinea 514.233
NigeriaNigeria Nigeria 83,372
MaliMali Mali 33,641
Ivory CoastIvory Coast Ivory Coast 20,000
Burkina FasoBurkina Faso Burkina Faso 10,068
NigerNiger Niger 6,207
SenegalSenegal Senegal 1,943

There is only significant cultivation in West Africa from Lake Chad to Cape Verde, South Mali, West Burkina Faso, East Senegal, North Guinea, Northeast Nigeria and South Niger, where the plant is the staple food for a million People delivers (Franke). According to other sources, millet is said to be the staple food for three to four million people. In some regions of Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Nigeria, fonio millet is the most important or one of the most important types of grain. The white Fonio has its main cultivation area in the highland plateaus of Nigeria, where it is called Acha. The second species of Fonio, Iburu or Black Fonio, is restricted to the Jos-Bauchi Plateau in Nigeria and the northern regions of Togo and Benin.

Fonio is also grown in parts of the Dominican Republic, where it was brought from West Africa as early as 1500, grew only as a weed for a long time, but has recently been grown again.

The cultivation area in West Africa extends to a size of approximately 300,000 hectares. Good yields are usually 600 to 800 kilograms per hectare, on good soils 1,000 kilograms. In the peripheral areas, the yields are below 500 kilograms and drop to 150 to 200 kilograms on very poor soils. Fonio is considered to be the tastiest grain in West Africa. The term "hungry rice" was coined by the British colonial rulers, but does not describe the importance of this grain. Because of the good taste of the fonio, it was and is eaten in some areas by the upper classes (tribal chiefs) or on special occasions. It is also known as "chief's food" . For the Dogon , a people in Mali, Fonio is of great importance in the ancestral cult. For them, the whole universe emerged from a foni seed, the smallest object for the Dogon.

use

Fonio millet and Iburu are processed into different products in the same way. It is made into porridge and couscous ; ground and mixed with other flours to make bread; and fermented into beer. In Togo, Fonio is processed into popcorn .

The Hausa in Nigeria prepare a couscous, wusu wusu , from both types . The Lambas in Togo brew beer ( tchapalo ) from the White Fonio .

The grain can be fed well to domestic animals, ruminants as well as pigs and poultry. Straw and chaff also serve as fodder.

The straw is mixed with clay and used to build houses. It is also used as fuel for cooking.

Sources and further information

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Lost Crops of Africa
  2. ^ W. Franke, 1989, p. 102.
  3. ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Digitaria exilis. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  4. ↑ FAOSTAT statistics from 2020. Accessed January 5, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Morales-Payán et al. 2003.

Web links

Commons : Fonio millet ( Digitaria exilis )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files