July 2025 - Collab - lists.millets2023.space

Japanese millets encyclopedia project needs sources
by Don Osborn 25 Jul '25

25 Jul '25

Passing on this from Makiko Taguchi of FAO (you may recall her prominent role in the International Year of Millets). This request was sent out on FAO's now seldom-used "Millets" email list. Note the August 5 deadline. DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Fri, Jul 25, 2025 at 2:12 PM Makiko Taguchi <Makiko.Taguchi(a)fao.org> wrote: > Dear colleagues, > > > > A group in Japan is working on a millets encyclopedia to be published next > year, and are looking for a good list of references on millets from around > the world. I would highly appreciate it if you could share the one > book/article on millets that provides a good overview of millets > production/value chain from your countries. > > > > You don’t need to share the actual document, but if you could send me the > title, author, year, etc as you would list in a reference, and if you do > have a link to access it online (if available), that would be great. Please > share them by 5 August. > > > > Thank you! > > > > *Makiko Taguchi* > > Agricultural Officer (cereal cropping systems) > > Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP) > <http://www.fao.org/agriculture/plant-production-and-protection/en/#_blank> > > Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) > > Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy > > Email: makiko.taguchi(a)fao.org > > Web: www.fao.org > > > > > >

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Two items on fonio
by Don Osborn 25 Jul '25

25 Jul '25

Fonio is our "millet of the month" in July. Here are a couple of items on this tiny grain: "Everything You Need to Know About Fonio with JJ Johnson | Food Network https://youtu.be/VWgTdguxcd0?si=yJMkxg9XKd2VcZA3 This video is very short but packs two ways of cooking fonio into 3 minutes in a listenable and understandable format. (Might be a template for other millets as well?) "Reclaiming The Giant Among African Grains: The Rise Of Fonio," by Tiana Cline, Forbes Africa, 4 Nov. 2024 https://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2024/11/04/reclaiming-the-giant-among-gr… A good overview which includes discussion of the background of fonio, and current efforts to work with farmers growing it, as well as current marketing efforts. It includes quotes from Chef Pierre Thiam (author & co-founder of Yolélé ) and Zoë Karl-Waithaka (managing dir. at Boston Consulting Group (BCG)), and cites the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa - FARA. Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Millets in Guyana - update & additional info
by Don Osborn 20 Jul '25

20 Jul '25

>From time to time I post on millets in other countries, near and far. Here's an update on a mention of Guyana, with reference also to Haiti. Back in mid 2023, I shared a link to an item about an India- Guyana partnership to bring millets to the latter. See link and comments under #5 at https://lists.millets2023.space/pipermail/collab/2023-May/000164.html . Here's an update with additional info and comments. 1. A short video from the Guyana Dept. of Public Information in Jan. 2024 discusses 1300 acres under millets. No specific millets are discussed, but there are images of pearl millet and proso millet. The seed bags do not as far as I could ascertain (using Google image translate) say anything about the types of millet. See https://youtu.be/A7ABwxzOmq0 2. A 2024 news release by the Guyana Ministry of Agriculture entitled "Guyana surpasses target for millet cultivation– Min. Mustapha" indicates that these 1300 acres are at the Tacama Mega Farm along the Berbice River in Guyana's Region 10. See https://agriculture.gov.gy/2024/01/11/guyana-surpasses-target-for-millet-cu… 3. A 17 June 2024 article in Selina Wamucii News by Timothy Wahome entitled "Guyana’s millet production reaches 100% self-sufficiency" reports a successful harvest, and relates plans to expand cultivation in Guyana's regions 5, 9, and 10. See https://www.selinawamucii.com/news/2024/06/17/guyanas-millet-production-rea… 4. A 7 July 2025 article in the Guyana Times entitled "Successful Region 9 millet trial leads to expanded cultivation plan" discusses production of finger millet and barnyard millet. See https://guyanatimesgy.com/successful-region-9-millet-trial-leads-to-expande… 5. A 16 June 2024 commentary in the Guyana Chronicle entitled "Consumer Concerns, with Pat Dial: Guyana Enters the Millet World" puts the introduction of millets into the context of Guyana's recent agriculture policy. It also brings up the potential of "millet" in Haiti, and in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as a whole. See https://guyanachronicle.com/2024/06/16/guyana-enters-the-millet-world/ NB- millets are not unknown in Haiti, however - see https://lists.millets2023.space/pipermail/collab/2023-October/000335.html ) Geographical note: Guyana's region 5 is coastal northeast; region 10 is just to its south. Region 9 is in the interior southwest of the country. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_Guyana Summary and comments: >From the above, at least 4 millets have recently been tried in Guyana: pearl; proso; finger; and barnyard. The imprecision of most of the articles limits our ability to understand which millets are being planted, where, and with what results. The main destination of grain millets appears to be as livestock feed. These recent articles seem to imply that cultivation of millets began with the sending of seeds of an unidentified selection of millets to Guyana in 2023. However the history may be a bit more complicated: * Jagannath V. Patil, Millets and Sorghum: Biology and Genetic Improvement (2017) p. 187 indicates that the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute of Guyana had one accession of "barnyard millet" See: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Millets_and_Sorghum/bDy7DQAAQBAJ?hl=en… * The "Checklist of the Plants of the Guianas (Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana)" 2nd ed., 1997, https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers20-10/0100… has: ** proso millet ("Panicum miliaceum L. [GU FG] [cultivated; naturalized?]") ** sorghum ("Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench [GU SU FG] [cultivated, sparingly naturalized]") ** kodo millet ("Paspalum scrobiculatum L. [SU FG] [cultivated; naturalized?]") ** foxtail millet ("Setaria italica (L.) P. Seauv. [FG] [naturalized?]") So, it may be that there was some cultivation of some millets before the project initiated in 2023 with seed from India. However, the policy commitment and scale of activity that the latter represents is a significant change. Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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"Popularizing Millets" webinar by AgroSpectrum (21 July 2025)
by Don Osborn 18 Jul '25

18 Jul '25

This Monday, July 21, AgroSpectrum will host a webinar entitled "Popularizing Millets: The Next Chapter in Global Grain Innovation." The time is 4:00 pm IST / 6:30 am EDT. For more information and to register, see: https://agrospectrumindia.com/webinar-millet360 This event has a regional focus on Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the EU, but may be of interest to any interested in popularizing millets in other regions, such as North America. A background paper, "Grainstorm: Why millets are reshaping resilience strategies," may also be of interest, even if you can't attend (note the mention of North America as the "fastest growing regional market"): https://agrospectrumindia.com/2025/07/17/grainstorm-why-millets-are-reshapi… Thanks to Suchetana Choudhury Goswami, Deputy Executive Director of AgroSpectrum, and moderator of the upcoming webinar, for sharing links. Don Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US - +1 202-621-3911)North American Millets Alliance

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List check. Please disregard
by MailmanLists 17 Jul '25

17 Jul '25

List check. 22:12 UTC Please disregard this test message.

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Webinar changes
by Don Osborn 15 Jul '25

15 Jul '25

A couple of announcements about our webinar format and calendar. 1. Our "third Thursday" rhythm will be interrupted this month, so this month's edition will not be held on July 17. This is due to a conjuncture of scheduling issues. We will follow with information on a discussion of fonio, our millet of the month in July. 2. We are also working on a changed approach to producing and sharing videos on millets, which will work better as we move forward. The monthly webinar approach was well-suited for the International Year of Millets, but may not be ideal outside of the context of an annual observance such as a UN international year. With more flexibility on when we can schedule guests to record interviews, we should be able to develop a even more interesting line-up of episodes to release on a regular basis. Stay tuned! Don Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US - +1 202-621-3911) North American Millets Alliance

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Two upcoming conferences on sorghum (none seen on other millets)
by Don Osborn 12 Jul '25

12 Jul '25

Dr. M. Hikmet Boyacioglu's "Cereal & Grain Sciences Events Calendar – July 2025" shows two upcoming conferences on sorghum: https://www.kpmanalytics.com/plp/cereal-grain-sciences-events-calendar . I filled out some info for the second one, in 2026. I don't see on Dr. Boyacioglu's calendar or elsewhere, any mention of conferences on other millets. “European Sorghum Congress”. 8–9 October 2025 Novotel Budapest City. Budapest, Hungary. https://www.sorghum-id.com https://www.sorghum-id.com/en/the-fourth-european-congress-of-sorghum-to-ta… https://fefac.eu/newsroom/events/4th-european-sorghum-congress-in-2025/ (webpage on the conference on the site of FEFAC, a Sorghum ID partner; indicates that the deadline for an earlybird registration date was 30 June 2025) The conference (the 4th in a series) is sponsored by Sorghum ID (Sorghum – International Development, an association of sorghum stakeholders working to establish an "inter-branch organization for sorghum" in Europe. It was founded in 2017. The conference did not figure prominently on the Sorghum ID website as far as I could see, and I did not see links to register for it. ----------------- “World Sorghum Congress” or “World Sorghum Conference”. 14-18 September 2026 Texas Tech University. Lubbock, TX, USA https://www.depts.ttu.edu/agriculturalsciences/news/posts/2023/06/dean-gsa-… https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/news/2023/06/08/global-sorghum-associat… Watch this space for more details on this 2026 event. Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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GSA Global Sorghum & Millets Expo, 5-6 Sept. 2025
by Don Osborn 12 Jul '25

12 Jul '25

You may recall that a millets conference called "GSA Global Millets Expo" was scheduled at Purdue University last year, then moved forward to April 2025 before ultimately being cancelled. The event has since been reconfigured as the "GSA Global Sorghum & Millets Expo 2025," to be held in Naperville, Illinois at Yellow Box, on Fri.-Sat. 5-6 September this year. For more information & registration: https://ggsme.globaleyeleadershipinstitute.org/ https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/gsa-global-sorghum-and-millets-expo--… Description from the Zeffy.com page above (which is similar to, but shorter than that on the GGSME page, which for its part, has information on invited speakers): "GSA Global Millets Expo with Multi-Stakeholders is a flagship event of Purdue University College of Agriculture - Food Science Department and Global Eye International Institute for Leaders in association with Nutrihub, ICAR-IIMR organized this year at Yellow box, Naperville, IL. "The purpose of this convention is to bring together all the stakeholders from the Nutri Cereals industry, from producers to processors to consumers as well as researchers, academicians, and policymakers, who are working across the value chain to engage in meaningful and actionable discussions for the promotion of Nutri Cereals across the country. "The GSA Global Millets Expo at Chicago aims to promote the global adoption and understanding of millets, a diverse group of ancient grains, by uniting government agencies, academic institutions, and international stakeholders. This event seeks to elevate the global presence of millets, highlighting their nutritional, environmental, and economic benefits, and fostering collaborations to increase their production and accessibility worldwide." Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance bcc: M. Hikmet Boyacioglu

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Two recent research articles on millets
by Don Osborn 10 Jul '25

10 Jul '25

Here are two recent articles on millets, one focusing on postharvest technologies, and the other giving an overview. Hossam S. El-Beltagi, Mohamed Abdel-Haleem, Nagwa Khedr, Tarek A. Shalaby, Mohamed M. El-Mogy, and Emad Hamdy Khedr, "Millets as climate-resilient crops: Emerging technologies for sustainable postharvest management," Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Vol. 147, 2025, 107999, ISSN 0889-1575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2025.107999 ( https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889157525008142) * Abstract: "Millets, a diverse group of small-grained cereals, are gaining global attention due to their remarkable nutritional benefits, climate resilience, and sustainability in agricultural systems. Despite their potential as a solution to pressing challenges in food security, climate adaptation, and malnutrition, millets remain underutilized, largely due to significant postharvest challenges. These include inefficient processing technologies, high postharvest losses, limited storage infrastructure, and short shelf life. Addressing these issues is essential to unlock the full potential of millets in sustainable food systems. This review highlights the major challenges in millet postharvest management, emphasizing the need for innovative and sustainable solutions. Emerging technologies such as hermetic storage, smart packaging, and digital tools are transforming millet value chains, enhancing their quality and marketability. Sustainable practices, including renewable energy-based processing, biodegradable packaging, and circular economy models, are further advancing environmental and economic sustainability. Additionally, case studies illustrate the practical applications of these approaches in various contexts, showcasing their scalability and impact. The review also identifies key research gaps and future directions, including the need for multidisciplinary approaches to enhance millet postharvest technologies, and improve value chain efficiency. By addressing these challenges holistically, millets can play a critical role in achieving global food security." * Keywords: Food security; Nutritional grains; Nanotechnology; Climate resilience; Hermetic storage * Millets covered: "pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), finger millet (Eleusine coracana), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), foxtail millet (Setaria italica), and proso millet (Panicum miliaceum), little millet (Panicum sumatrense), and barnyard millet (Echinochloa spp.)" * Comment: Article addresses a key issue in developing markets for millets. Authors are from institutions in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately the full article is paywalled. ___ Mohanan MM, Vijayakumar A, Bang-Berthelsen CH, Mudnakudu-Nagaraju KK, Shetty R. "Millets: Journey from an Ancient Crop to Sustainable and Healthy Food." Foods. 2025 May 13;14(10):1733. doi: 10.3390/foods14101733. PMID: 40428513; PMCID: PMC12111017. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12111017/ * Abstract: "Millets, often known as 'nutri-cereals', have garnered renewed global interest due to their numerous health benefits, rich nutritional composition, resilience to extreme climatic conditions, and minimal environmental footprint. The advent of rice and wheat as staple foods in the 1960s led to drastic decline in millet cultivation worldwide. Recognizing the importance of millet, the United Nations (UN) declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets in an effort to accomplish Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG-2), i.e., zero hunger, by increasing millet production and fostering research and development to improve the integration of these grains into mainstream food systems. In recent years, global production of millets has surged, with India leading as the top producer. Millets are nutritionally advantageous, consisting of carbohydrates, antioxidants, and biologically active compounds such as flavonoids, carotenoids, phenolic acids, minerals, and vitamins. Incorporating millets into a balanced diet can help control and prevent diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, inflammation, and malnutrition due to their enriched vital nutrients, low glycemic index, and gluten-free nature. This indicates a transition of millets from an 'orphan crop' to being used as ingredients for products (with or without fermentation) that are nutrient-rich, climate-resilient, sustainable, and health-promoting." * Keywords: millets, sustainable food, gluten-free, health, nutrient-rich, climate-resilient * Millets covered: finger, pearl, sorghum, little, foxtail, proso, kodo, barnyard (Japanese & Indian), and browntop; attention also given to two so-called "pseudo-millets," amaranth & buckwheat * Comments: Brings together useful information on millets. Unfortunately shifts sometimes from plural into the singular (e.g., "Millet, one of the earliest cultivated domestic crops ..." rather than "Millets, among the earliest cultivated domestic crops ..."). Authors from institutions in India and Denmark. Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Brewing with fonio
by Don Osborn 05 Jul '25

05 Jul '25

In a search for recent podcasts relating to fonio, I found that some of the most recent ones focus on the use of fonio in brewing beers. Here are 4, followed by my general comments. "Garrett Oliver Dishes on Fonio Rising; Plus, Breeze Galindo Discusses the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling," Brewbound Podcast, 2 Jan 2025 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/garrett-oliver-dishes-on-fonio-rising… (Jump to 50:03 for the segment with Garrett Oliver, which altho only about 10 min., is very good. Mr. Oliver is the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, and collaborated with Chef Pierre Thiam of Yolélé Foods on a noted fonio beer brand.) "Fonio, Fonio, What The Heck Are You, Fonio?" Experimental Brewing (Episode 207), 14 April 2025 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-207-fonio-fonio-what-the-heck… (There's mention of fonio in brewing at 21:25, and then a longer segment beginning at 27:30. This discussion with Ashton Lewis of Brewers Supply Group gets very technical.) "Garrett Oliver and Vinnie Cilurzo are Brewing for Impact With Fonio Grain," Craft Beer & BrewingMagazine Podcaast, 27 September 2024 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/garrett-oliver-and-vinnie-cilurzo-are… (Two noted craft brewers, Garrett Oliver, mentioned above, and Vinnie Cilurzo, of Russian River, share information about fonio and their own experiences in a wide ranging and sometimes technical discussion. Full duration 1 hr., 8 min.) "Fonio Friends, There's a New Grain in Town," False Bottomed Girls, 24 March 2025 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fonio-friends-theres-a-new-grain-in-t… (The two podcast hosts discuss fonio and its use in brewing beer. Duration 44 min.) Comments on content of one or more of the above: * Fonio at the edge of the desert: Fonio does indeed grow in marginal areas including with low rainfall, but appears to be more common in areas with somewhat higher rainfall (savanna) and at elevation. Personally, my introduction to fonio was in the Plateau region of southern Togo (rainfall over 40" / 1000mm per year), and then the Futa Jalon region of Guinea (rainfall perhaps as high as 80" / 2300 mm). * Sand: The sand in fonio may come from a common traditional method of dehulling the grain - pounding in a mortar with sand. I'm not sure to what degree sand may be introduced in threshing and subsequent gathering of the seed. Also not sure whether mechanization of threshing and dehulling may eliminate the problem * Reason for marginalization of fonio as a crop: It's more complicated than a colonial plan to suppress its cultivation - without making excuses for colonialism. Fonio has always been labor intensive to harvest & process. relative to pearl millet, sorghum, corn, & arguably even rice. At the same time, in drier areas, pearl millet and sorghum, which are both indigenous staples, are more common crops. In humid areas, corn - introduced long ago - is unsurprisingly very productive, which has obvious appeal to smallholder farmers. Colonial regimes did push cash crops - such as peanuts in Senegal - and monocultures, and such policies certainly can compete with staple production. But I have not seen anything to suggest any active discouragement of fonio cultivation. * Fwiw, I personally don't drink alcoholic beverages, so can't comment on the fonio beer products mentioned, but if any of you do and can, please share your experience. Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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