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Wild Grains
Pages 251-272

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From page 251... ... One survey records more than 60 grass species known to be sources of food grains.9 Despite their widespread use and notable value for saving lives during times of distress, these wild cereals have been largely overlooked by both food scientists and plant scientists. They have been written off as '`obsolete"-doomed since hunting and gathering started giving way to agriculture thousands of years ago. Read the entire page →
From page 252... ... The vast grasslands provided game as well as limitless grazing for cattle, sheep, and goats. Shallow lakes occupying wide, flat pansenlarged during the rains and provided plentiful food from fish, hippopotamus, and aquatic plants, including African rice. Read the entire page →
From page 253... ... Many come from locations where burning temperatures, scant rains, and ravenous insects make the better-known grains impossible to produce. Some can populate and stabilize sand dunes perhaps even the juggernaut dunes that threaten to bury oases, farms, villages, roads, and towns. Read the entire page →
From page 254... ... All over Africa, stands like this one are relied upon to provide food, especially during times of crop failure. (John Newby, WWF) Read the entire page →
From page 255... ... All over Africa, stands like this one are relied upon to provide food, especially during times of crop failure. (John Newby, WWF) Read the entire page →
From page 256... ... And some expensive breads are made from as many as 11 different grains. 6 The pamphlet in each box explains: "Kashi, the breakfast pilaf, is a specially formulated pure blend of whole oats, long grain brown rice, whole rye, triticale, hard red winter wheat, raw buckwheat, slightly hulled barley, and mechanically dehulled sesame seeds; 100 percent quality whole grains that are not cut, cracked, rolled or flaked nor creamy or mushy when cooked." Read the entire page →
From page 257... ... Certain kram-kram seeds, for instance, apparently have about 9 percent fat and are perhaps higher in energy than any other cereal grain.8 Africa's promising wild cereals include those described below. All of these deserve the attention of food and agricultural scientists, as well as of the people involved in battling Sahelian desertification. Read the entire page →
From page 258... ... Niger On their way from the wet- to the dry-season pastures, the Tuareg of Niger regularly harvest wild cereals. The grains, collectively known as ishiban, include desert panic (Panicum /aetum) Read the entire page →
From page 259... ... Zambia The Tonga of Zambia routinely harvest the grains of wild sorghum and Egyptian grass, and during famines they also harvest species of Brachiaria, Panicum, Echinochloa, Rottboellia, and Urochloa. They supplement these wild cereals with relishes made from leaves, most of which they also usually find in the wild. Read the entire page →
From page 260... ... DRINN The grass known in Arabic as drinn (Aristida pungens) once provided by far the most important wild grain of the northern Sahara.9 It was extremely abundant, often growing on sand dunes but especially on bottomlands watered by runoff from higher ground. Read the entire page →
From page 261... ... It was once abundant across the Sahara as well as in desert lands as far east as Pakistan. It was widespread, for example, in Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco, Egypt, and Somalia and was the primary wild grass in a vast belt across the southern Sahara. Read the entire page →
From page 262... ... The plant prefers heavy soils and is found predominantly on wet sites. It continues producing green shoots well into the dry season, a valuable feature in any desert forage. Read the entire page →
From page 263... ... -. Essential Amino Acids . Read the entire page →
From page 264... ... Although it emphasizes animal feed, it gives a glimpse of what could be done by developing wild grasses for food* To farmers and pastoralists in the Inner Delta of Mali, the bourgou floodplains supply a crucial source of fodder. Read the entire page →
From page 265... ... So, in 1982 UNSO and the Malian government began a project to learn how to regenerate bourgou grasslands. So far, the most effective technique has been to plant rootlings: small, rooted cuttings collected either from existing bourgoutieres or from nurseries specifically set up for the purpose. Read the entire page →
From page 266... ... It has been called Cenchrus leptacanthus. If this type breeds true and if it could be developed as a crop, it would make kram-kram easier to handle and perhaps very valuable as a forage for many dry areas.i7 A related species, also used as a wild cereal, is Cenchrus prieurii. Read the entire page →
From page 267... ... This native of tropical Africa, southern Africa, and Madagascar is primarily used for fodder, but is also used locally as flour. Shama millet (Echinochloa corona) Read the entire page →
From page 268... ... 9 aAssuming 10 percent moisture. COMPARATIVE QUALITY Food energy Protein Carbohydrate Fat Fiber Ash Calcium Iron Phosphorus Potassium Cystine Isoleucine Leucine Lysine Methionine Ph enyl al anine Threonine Tyrosine Valine Sorghum >450% >500% Read the entire page →
From page 269... ... COMPARATIVE QUALITY Food energy Protein Carbohydrate Fat Fiber Ash Calcium Iron Phosphorus Potassium Cystine Isoleucine Leucine Lysine Methionine Phenylalanine Threonine Tyrosine Valine Sorghum >450% > 3000 % Read the entire page →
From page 270... ... Kram-kram, Egyptian grass, and wadi rice, for example, have more of the sulfur-containing amino acids than the FAO reference protein requirement. Egyptian grass and shame millet proteins are also significantly higher in threonine than those usually reported for sorghum protein. Read the entire page →
From page 271... ... In Central Sudan, where wadi rice is widespread, the grains are boiled with water or milk and eaten as a staple. OTHER WILD GRAINS Among other wild African grasses that are, at least on a few occasions, used as food are the following. Read the entire page →
From page 272... ... Eastern South Africa, South Cape, Botswana, Namibia. Perennial, robust, usually tufted grass. Read the entire page →

From page 251...

... One survey records more than 60 grass species known to be sources of food grains.9 Despite their widespread use and notable value for saving lives during times of distress, these wild cereals have been largely overlooked by both food scientists and plant scientists. They have been written off as '`obsolete"-doomed since hunting and gathering started giving way to agriculture thousands of years ago.

Wild Grains Pages 251-272

Wild Grains
Pages 251-272