Background Information on Pearl Millet

Sorghum and Millet Publications available New

Pearl millet (subsequently referred to herein as simply “millet”) is a crop of vital importance to millions of African families living in semi-arid regions of the continent.  Millet is one of the world’s most resilient crops.  In many areas where millet is the staple food, nothing else will grow.  Several phrases from a recent publication by ICRISAT perhaps sum it up best:

“We are talking about a crop that is virtually unimprovable – a crop that grows where not even weeds can survive.  A crop that has been improved by farmers and through natural selection for thousands of years.  A crop that produces nourishment from the poorest soils in the driest regions in the hottest climates.  A crop that grows straight out of sand dunes.  A crop that survives sand storms and flash floods.”

Millet is descended from wild grasses native to the central Saharan plateau region of Niger.  From there it spread to east Africa and India, where millet ranks as the fourth most important cereal.  In west Africa millet is consumed primarily as a thick porridge, or toh, but it is also milled into flour to prepare breads and cakes.  Millet is the most-preferred cereal grain grown in Sahelian countries, Senegal, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, and is consumed in preference to sorghum.  In northern Nigeria, millet flour is used in making a popular fried cake know as “masa”.  Roasted young ears are a popular food for children.  While sorghum is perhaps a better-know crop in most of the world, most inhabitants of the Sahel actually prefer to consume millet, a fact which should encourage greater investments in its improvement.

Feeding trials conducted in India have shown that millet is nutritionally superior for human growth to maize and rice.  It has slightly higher protein content (average of 16%) than maize and roughly twice the fat content (5-7%) of most maize varieties, and is particularly high in calcium and iron.  It has lower levels of fiber and most vitamins, although its vitamin A content is relatively high.  One important problem for households which rely on millet as a food staple is its tendency to spoil rapidly (as a result of the fat content) following preparation.  As constraints to labor increase in Africa, this constraint is likely to increase in importance, giving rise to the need for alternatives.

Five countries in west Africa (Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal) produce 85% of the continent’s total millet crop.  Sudan accounts for 50% of millet production in eastern and southern Africa.  Figure 15 shows the relative importance of millet production in west Africa vs. the other two regions.  West Africa is also the only region where millet production has significantly increased over time.  However, all of this growth is due to increased area cultivated, and not increased yields. Growth rate of millet yields in SSA during 1985-1994 was 2.3%.

Importance of millet production in selected countries of SSA

Pearl millet suffers from heavy attack by Striga throughout West Africa.  Head miners and downy mildew are other major constraints.  As with the case of sorghum, some breeders point to the crop’s evolution in India, and contend that large increases in yield are only possible by developing adapted hybrid varieties.