Post by Trade facilitator on Aug 7, 2022 19:03:28 GMT 1
What are millets (Eleusine Coracana)?
Millets are tiny, spherical grains. They come in different colors like white, gray, yellow and even deep red.
According to archaeologists, millet was first cultivated in East Asia as far as 10,000 years back. For centuries, millet has been a highly valued crop in Africa; it is used in a lot of foods, from bread to couscous, and as cereal grain.
Millet may not be the commonest type of seed crop that you’re expecting on your table, but this group of highly variable seeded grasses are cultivated throughout the world, both for livestock feed and human consumption.
Known as Gero/Dawa in hausa, Achara in Igbo, and Okababa in Yoruba, it remains one of Nigeria’s major sources of ingredients for making pap both for adults and children.
As with most grains, millet is available in markets throughout the year and provides so many nutritional benefits for poor Africans that cannot access other more expensive sources of foods.
The following are some of the amazing benefits of Millets:
Millets are highly rich in fiber, which help in easy digestion.
This grain is considered to be one of the most digestible and non-allergenic grains. Millet contains the amino acid, tryptophan, which works as a natural relaxant.
Millet is high in protein:
It helps to meet the daily protein requirement from a complex carbohydrate than animal sources. Millets provide a fantastic alternative source of protein to meat that has become too expensive for an average family in our country today.
Millets when consumed in large amounts helps decrease triglyceride levels in the body. It thins the blood to prevent blood platelet clumping, thereby reducing the risk of sunstroke and coronary artery disorder.
The Vitamin B in millet helps to break down carbohydrates and fat more efficiently.
Magnesium in millet relaxes the muscles that line the inside of the arterial wall, which helps to reduce blood pressure.
Millet also reduces the severity of asthma and frequency of migraines.
It prevents the premature ageing of the skin.
Pregnant and lactating women are advised to consume millet, especially Ragi in high amounts to increase the production of breast milk in the body. Because of its high level of magnesium, millet is a great food for women who suffer from unbearable pain and cramps during their menstrual cycle.
Phosphorus content in millet helps to structure the cells in the body.
It is an essential component of numerous compounds including adenosine triphosphate or ATP, which enhances energy in the body.
Millet is one of the most important dual-purpose crops and a staple food for millions of people in arid and semi-arid ecologies around the world.
Pearl millet, also commonly called millet, is an important cereal crop mainly grown in the Northern part of Nigeria.
The crop thrives well in locations where rainfall does not last long enough to deter its growth.
Over 60% of croplands in Borno State and 30% of croplands in Adamawa state are devoted to millet production.
In the North Eastern part of Nigeria, millet is largely grown as a rainy season crop, using open-pollinated varieties (local landraces or improved cultivars). It is often grown as a component in intercrops or mixed in cereals-legumes cropping system with crops such as groundnut and cowpea, or with cereals such as sorghum and maize. Due to its superior adaptation (compared to other tropical cereals) to drought, soil salinity, soil acidity, and high temperatures, not to mention its food, feed and fodder values, opportunities exist for millet to make farmers rich.
What pH does millet like?
Millet forages grow well in soil pH levels between 5.5 and 7.5.
Which soil is highly suitable for millet cultivation?
Millet has wide adaptability to different types of soil from very poor to very fertile and can tolerate a certain degree of alkalinity.
The best soils are alluvial, loamy and sandy soil with good drainage.
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