Pearl millet

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Pearl millet
Stock of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum)

Stock of pearl millet ( Pennisetum glaucum )

Systematics
Commelinids
Order : Sweet grass (Poales)
Family : Sweet grasses (Poaceae)
Subfamily : Panicoideae
Genre : Lamp cleaner grasses ( Pennisetum )
Type : Pearl millet
Scientific name
Pennisetum glaucum
( L. ) R.Br.
Pennisetum glaucum

The pearl millet ( Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.Br. , Syn .: Cenchrus americanus (L.) Morrone ), also cattail millet , foxtail millet or brush grass called, is a grain and crop from the family of the sweet grasses (Poaceae).

An infructescence of pearl millet is examined
The pearl millet after harvest

description

The pearl millet is an annual bluegrass with a growth similar to maize . It reaches heights of growth of 3 to 4 meters and the stalks have a diameter of 10 to 20 mm. The approximately 8 cm long leaves are dark green. The roots reach to a depth of 360 cm, with the main root horizon (80% of the root mass) extending to the top 10 cm.

It produces inflorescences that are 10 to 60 cm long on the main shoots and slightly shorter on the side shoots, reminiscent of cattails and 1.5 to 4.5 cm in diameter. The spindles carry numerous short panicle branches with two-flowered spikelets. On the spikelets there are male flowers below and female flowers above.

The fruit stand is compact and cylindrical and carries 1000 to 3000 slightly oval grains. These are usually 3–4 mm in length and up to 5 mm and, depending on the variety, are almost white, pale yellow, red to purple, slate blue or black in color. The thousand grain weight is between 2.5 and 14 g with an average of 8 g and is thus higher than other types of millet , with the exception of sorghum .

The pollen is carried by the wind. The chromosome set is diploid with 2n = 14.

In addition to newer breeds, there are countless local varieties of pearl millet. There are also hybrids of pearl millet with other Pennisetum species.

distribution

Pearl millet originally comes from tropical Africa and was cultivated there 3,000 years ago. Their home area ranges from Benin to tropical Africa. From its home areas it was spread as a cultivated plant over Arabia to India and Burma and is preferred today in the dry tropics at altitudes between 800 and 1800 m above sea level. cultivated.

Location

Pearl millet prefers sandy or silty soils that are well aerated. The plant can also grow in poor soils, is salt-tolerant and also thrives in very acidic soils. High soil water contents, for example due to overflow, cannot be tolerated, but prolonged drought. It can be grown in areas with an annual rainfall of 125 to 900 mm, the optimum is above 500 mm.

The pearl millet needs a lot of light, shadow strongly inhibits growth.

Cultivation and use

Pearl millet is considered to be the type of grain with the greatest drought resistance . The seeds are applied and incorporated into cultivated soil. The floor coverage is 10 to 50 mm, the optimum is between 35 and 40 mm depth.

Because of its high resistance to drought, pearl millet yields harvests of 2 to 10 dt / ha even with 180 mm of rainfall  ; with higher rainfall or irrigation, up to 30 dt / ha can be achieved.

In addition to being used as grain, pearl millet is also grown for fodder purposes and fed to cattle. In addition, because of the deep root system that secures the surface, it is cultivated in some areas for soil reinforcement, where it is sown more densely than for agricultural production. In India, a combination of pearl millet and pigeon pea ( Cajanus cajan ) is often used to prevent erosion damage.

ingredients

Per 100 g of edible portion, the grains have an average content of:

The calorific value is 1,585  kJ / 100 g (380  kcal / 100 g). The protein content depends heavily on the age of the grains and is highest in young grains. Young pearl millet is also very tasty because of its ingredients.

Plant diseases and plant protection

One of the most important plant diseases is leaf spot disease, which is caused by fungi of the genera Helminthosporium , Cercospora and others. The plant is also attacked by powdery mildew fungi.

In the African growing areas, root parasites of the Striga genus , especially Striga hermonthica and , to a lesser extent, Striga lutea , cause great damage to pearl millet as well as to other types of grain. Blood-billed weavers that feed on grains partially invade the stocks and can cause crop failures. The two butterfly species, cotton owl ( Heliothis armigera ) and Coniesta ignefusalis ("Millet stem borer") can cause great damage to crops.

Preparations

In the growing areas, pearl millet serves as a rice substitute, is used to bake flat bread and to make millet porridge and beer.

Names

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.
  • Synonyms : Pennisetum typhoides (Burm. F.) Stapf & CEHubb. , Pennisetum americanum (L.) Leeke subsp. americanum , Pennisetum americanum (L.) Leeke , Pennisetum typhoideum Rich. , Setaria glauca (L.) P.Beauv. , Pennisetum typhoidis L.C. Rich. , Cenchrus americanus (L.) Morrone .
  • Arabic : Duhun, Dukhon (Africa - Sudan).
  • Bamanakan : Souna.
  • English : Pearl millet, Pale pigeon grass (Austr.), Bulrush millet (Austr.), Cattail millet, African millet, Candle millet, Yellow bristle grass (Ireland), Yellow fox tail, Short millet.
  • French : Millet à chandelle, Millet perlé, Millet pénicillaire, Pénicillaire, Mil à chandelle, Millet africain, Millet d'Afrique, Petit mil, Sétaire glauque (Belgium).
  • Hindi : Bajra
  • Italian : Miglio africano, Miglio perla, Miglio perlato.
  • Oshivambo : Mahangu, Omahangu
  • Kimbundu : Masambala
  • Portuguese : Milhete, Milho africano, Milho miúdo, Painço, Peniseto, Bajra, Mexoeira.
  • Spanish : Mijo negro, Mijo perla, Mijo candela, Panizo negro, Pasto italiano (Uruguay).
  • Swahili : Mawele, Uwele.

literature

  • Wolfgang Franke (original author), Reinhard Lieberei (editor), Christoph Reisdorff (editor): Nutzpflanzenkunde. Usable plants of temperate latitudes, subtropics and tropics , Thieme, Stuttgart, 2007, ISBN 978-3135304076
  • George Usher: A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man , Constable, London 1974, ISBN 0-09-457920-2

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sorghum and millet in human nutrition . Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 1995.
  2. ^ Tropicos. [1]
  3. ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Pennisetum glaucum. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  4. ↑ Ternes, Täufel, Tunger, Zobel: Food Lexicon . Behr's Verlag, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-89947-165-2 .

Web links

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