Quick follow-ups:

1. A short description of the millet triangle:

The "millets triangle" offers a way to look at millets as a group. Its internal organization is based on botanical relationships, geographic origins, and relative levels of production. And it can be used to present information on how and where we use these small grains, in any context.

2. I'd be very interested to learn of any classroom use of this graphic (with no undue pretense). Does anyone on the list teach a course about grains where millets would be a topic? It would be helpful to get feedback from a range of people about how understandable this triangle is, and whether it helps learning about the "ethnobotany" of millets.

3. This third version of the triangle is not intended to be the final one. But for future development, here are some objectives:
a) Review design, and use a better graphics program (this was done with the humble MS Paint and an online text rotation utility).
b) Hard statistics to support the vertical arrangement (what is produced at what level & marketed how widely)
c) Possible 5th level, to include wild relatives that are sometimes used as food, and which are of possible interest in breeding programs
d) Moving beyond iterations of a static diagram to a dynamic interface that would allow users to call up different kinds of information. that would then automatically shade or color relevant cells in the diagram.

Anyway, that's where it is now. Your feedback and ideas are most welcome.

Don

DO, EL, MI, US
NAMA


On Mon, Aug 19, 2024 at 12:47 AM Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org> wrote:
Attached is a PDF copy of a new PPT presentation of the current version of the "millets triangle." (If you'd like the PPT version, please ask offlist - the file size of that is larger than the PDF.)

In 2022, I introduced the concept of conveying the diversity of millets in a single graphic that could be used to convey information about who grows which ones where and for what). I revised that millets triangle shortly afterwards. A previous version of this presentation introduced that second version of the triangle, and it received some helpful feedback.

I revised the millets triangle again earlier this year, but not until now have I revised the presentation (so this is presentation version 2, but displaying the third version of the triangle).

I hope the introduction to the millets triangle is clearer in this version. The examples in the last section before the conclusion (starting at slide 23) are new or have been reworked from the earlier effort. A key use that is anticipated for this diagram is being able to characterize uses of various millets in diverse contexts.

This is an ongoing project, with the object of bringing millets as a group into clearer view. The current version of the millets triangle may be revised, or perhaps give rise to another conceptual approach to bringing information about the diverse millets into a reusable graphic.

Your feedback and suggestions for improvement are requested.

Don

Don Osborn, PhD
(East Lansing, MI, US)
North American Millets Alliance