Panicum miliaceum is a grain crop with many common names, including proso millet, broomcorn millet, common millet, hog millet, Kashfi millet, red millet, and white millet. Archaeobotanical evidence suggests millet was first domesticated about 10,000 BP in Northern China. The crop is extensively cultivated in China, India, Nepal, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Middle East, Turkey, Romania, and the United States, where about 500,000 acres are grown each year. The crop is notable both for its extremely short lifecycle, with some varieties producing grain only 60 days after planting, and its low water requirements, producing grain more efficiently per unit of moisture than any other grain species tested. The name "proso millet" comes from the pan-Slavic general and generic name for millet. Proso millet is a relative of foxtail millet, pearl millet, maize, and sorghum within the grass subfamily Panicoideae. While all of these crops use C4 photosynthesis, the others all employ the NADP-ME as their primary carbon shuttle pathway, while the primary C4 carbon shuttle in proso millet is the NAD-ME pathway.
Pearl millet is the most widely grown type of millet. It has been grown in Africa and the Indian subcontinent since prehistoric times. The center of diversity, and suggested area of domestication, for the crop is in the Sahel zone of West Africa. Recent archaeobotanical research has confirmed the presence of domesticated pearl millet on the Sahel zone of northern Mali between 2500 and 2000 BC. 2023 is the International Year of Millets, declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2021.
Foxtail millet, scientific name Setaria italica, is an annual grass grown for human food. It is the second-most widely planted species of millet, and the most grown millet species in Asia. The oldest evidence of foxtail millet cultivation was found along the ancient course of the Yellow River in Cishan, China, carbon dated to be from around 8,000 years before present. Foxtail millet has also been grown in India since antiquity.
Echinochloa frumentacea is a species of Echinochloa. Both Echinochloa frumentacea and E. esculenta are called Japanese millet. This millet is widely grown as a cereal in India, Pakistan, and Nepal. Its wild ancestor is the tropical grass Echinochloa colona, but the exact date or region of domestication is uncertain. It is cultivated on marginal lands where rice and other crops will not grow well. The grains are cooked in water, like rice, or boiled with milk and sugar. Sometimes it is fermented to make beer. While also being part of staple diet for some communities in India, these seeds are, in particular, eaten during religious fasting. For this reason, these seeds are commonly also referred to as "vrat ke chawal" in Hindi. Other common names to identify these seeds include oodalu (ಊದಲು) in Kannada, Shyamak (শ্যামাক) or Shyama Chal in Bangla, jhangora in the Garhwal Hills, bhagar (भगर) in Marathi-speaking areas, samo or morio seeds in Gujarati, or kuthiraivaali (குதிரைவாளி) in Tamil.
Panicum sumatrense, known as little millet, is a species of millet in the family Poaceae.
The African rice grasshopper, Hieroglyphus daganensis is a medium-sized grasshopper species found in the Sahel region. Although not called a locust in English, this species shows gregarious behaviour and some morphological change on crowding and may become a moderately important pest species for small-holder farmers in the region.
Hieroglyphus is a genus of grasshoppers in the family Acrididae: subfamily Hemiacridinae and the tribe Hieroglyphini Bolívar, 1912. Species can be found in Africa and Asia.
Atherigona miliaceae, the finger millet shoot fly, is a species of fly in the family Muscidae. The larvae feed on the central growing shoots of crops such as finger millet, little millet, and proso millet. It is found in East Asia and South Asia.
Atherigona pulla, the proso millet shoot fly, is a species of fly in the family Muscidae. The larvae feed on the central growing shoots of crops such as proso millet and little millet. It is found in South Asia.
Acrida exaltata is a species of grasshopper in the family Acrididae. It is a pest of sorghum in Asia.
Aiolopus longicornis is a species of grasshopper in the family Acrididae. It is a pest of millets such as sorghum in Africa.
Hieroglyphus nigrorepletus is a species of grasshopper in the family Acrididae. It is a highly serious pest of millets such as sorghum and pearl millet in western India.
Oxya nitidula is a species of grasshopper in the family Acrididae. It is a pest of millets such as sorghum and pearl millet in India.
Chrotogonus hemipterus is a species of grasshopper in the family Pyrgomorphidae. It is a pest of millets in India.
Decticoides brevipennis, the Wello-bush cricket, is a species of grasshopper in the family Tettigoniidae. It is a pest of teff in Africa.
Delia arambourgi is a species of fly in the family Anthomyiidae. It is a pest of teff and pearl millet in Ethiopia.
Oxya bidentata is a species of grasshopper in the family Acrididae. It is a pest of millets.
