Crops
Millet
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Millet is not one plant but a group of small-seeded grasses grown as cereal grains across Asia and Africa, prized for tolerating drought and poor soil where wheat and maize struggle. Pearl millet was domesticated in the Sahel region of West Africa around 6000 BC, while proso millet was independently domesticated in China, where husk phytoliths from the Cishan site date to roughly 10,300 to 8,700 years ago. It remains a staple grain and fodder crop across the semi-arid tropics of Asia and Africa today.
Facts
Scientific NameMultiple genera, principally Cenchrus americanus (pearl millet), Panicum miliaceum (proso millet), Setaria italica (foxtail millet) and Eleusine coracana (finger millet) 1 Domestication RegionWest Africa (Sahel, pearl millet) and northern China (proso millet), independently 1 Domesticated When (Circa)Circa 6000 BC (pearl millet, Sahel); circa 8,700 to 10,300 years ago (proso millet, China) 1 Sources
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