Lost Crops of Africa Volume I: Grains (1996) / Chapter Skim
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2 Finger Millet
2 Finger Millet
Pages 39-58
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From page 39... ...
In fact, it has declined so rapidly in southern Africa, Burundi, Rwanda, and Zaire, for instance, that some people predict that in a few years it will be hard to find even where until recently it was the predominant cereal. In those areas it clings to existence only in plots that are grown for use on feast days and other occasions demanding prestige fare.
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From page 40... ...
Given research, recognition, and sympathetic policies, production could expand dramatically. ~ At least one reviewer speculates that abandoning this nutritious grain millet for the less nutritious ones is "likely one of the causes of increasing famine in many areas." 3 What is more, the government-controlled price (630 shillings per quintal, or $0.29 per kilo in 1991)
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From page 41... ...
They traditionally hold celebrations for the new harvest, and they serve finger-millet bread to visitors and neighbors whom they want to impress. In the Buganda region, however, the people prefer finger millet in the form of hot porridge served with either .
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From page 42... ...
Finger millet is not as drought tolerant as pearl millet or even sorghum, but it could play a much greater role in savanna areas that get at least moderate rainfall. Upland Areas Excellent prospects.
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From page 43... ...
Finger millet straw makes good fodder better than that from pearl millet, wheat, or sorghum. It contains up to 61 percent total digestible nutrients.
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From page 44... ...
49 Z~nc (mg) 1.5 No single set of numbers can adequately convey the nutritional promise of a grain as variable as finger millet.
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From page 45... ...
FINGER MILLET 45 COMPARATIVE QUALITY Edible portion Moisture Food energy Protein Carbohydrate Fat Fiber Ash Thiamin Riboflavin Niacin Calcium Copper Iron Magnesium Manganese Phosphorus Potassium Sodium Zinc Cystine Isoleucine Leucine Lysine Methionine Phenylalanine Threonine Tryptophan Tyrosine Valine Maize _>5000% - >350% > 350% Figures reported for the essential amino acids are generally consistent, but 3 percent methionine is commonly referred to in the literature. Possibly, this was based on Regerminated flour.
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From page 46... ...
The main protein fraction (eleusinin) has high biological value, with good amounts of tryptophan, cystine, methionine, and total aromatic amino acids.6 All of these are crucial to human health and growth and are deficient in most cereals.
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From page 47... ...
Weeding is a particular problem. In Africa the dominant weed, a wild relative of the crop, looks so much like finger millet in its early stages that only skilled observers and close scrutiny can tell them apart.
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From page 48... ...
It yields fairly white products. It can also be used to process wheat, maize, sorghum, and pearl millet and will even remove the outer husk from finger millet seeds if the clearance between the grinder plates is reduced.
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From page 49... ...
The fact that malting is a cheap and widely understood process that can be easily accomplished in the home or village and requires no fuel or special equipment is a major benefit. This means that top-quality weaning foods can be made by the poor, who cannot afford to buy commercial baby-food concoctions.
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From page 50... ...
Every seed sown can return between 200 and 500 seeds (other grain crops seldom go above 100 even under ideal conditions)
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From page 51... ...
In these areas, farmers typically clear forest from a hillside, burn it, and sow finger millet in the ashes. The tiny plants hold soil poorly, and it easily washes away.
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From page 52... ...
It is, for instance, a principal cereal of the farming classes in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, as well as in the Himalaya hill tracts (including those of Nepal)
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From page 53... ...
As in its African homeland, ragi enjoys a reputation for being both nutMtious and sustaining, and Indian studies lend scient#ic support to this Mew. Certain grain types, pa~iculaMy the white ones, can match the most nutritious local cereals, at least in protein content.
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From page 54... ...
Similarly, there are water-efficient types with high carbon dioxide fixation and low leaf area that could be outstanding new crops for semiarid conditions. Long-glume types with high seed weight are especially promising for increasing seed size.
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From page 55... ...
Less urgent needs include: (1) improvement of malting quality (important both for brewing and for making high-methionine weaning foods)
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From page 56... ...
Today it is found throughout eastern and southern Africa and is the principal cereal grain in Uganda, where it is planted on more than 0.4 million hectares (especially in northern and western regions) , as well as in northeastern Zambia.
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From page 57... ...
(Kong et al., 1988.) 17 In pot experiments, the rock phosphate mobilizing capacity increased in the order maize: pearl millet: finger millet.
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From page 58... ...
Page 58
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