One of our initiatives during the International Year of Millets has been the "millet-of-the-month" calendar. Here are some personal reflections on it as we approach the end of 2023 and look forward. (A list of the millets of the month is appended below, and attached as an image.)

The idea of spotlighting one millet a month is to disambiguate the category of #millets. In order to better understand what we're talking about in the International Year of Millets, especially in a region where this category of small round grains is not well-known, it makes sense to try to give a brief profile of each specific millet. What does the plant look like? What do its grains look like? What are some facts about it? And links to more info?

A next step - and we do hope to continue this effort - would be to convey the story of each millet and how it is used. These are distinct species (perhaps 20, when we count some locally used ones) from diverse regions, that speak to us in different ways in the field and on the plate.

Since there are more millets than there are months, we've had to double up in some months, grouping very closely related millets, so the stories can get a bit complex. In July, for example, the millet(s)-of-the-month was the barnyard millet group - Echinochloa spp. When getting into the subject, however, it started to become a bit fuzzy. There are 2 main species, each with a wild precursor, but the relationships may not be as established as it seemed at the outset. Nomenclature is also a problem, with one common name in English - barnyard millet or Japanese millet (the latter especially in the US, it seems) - sometimes being used for either or both, so that you're not always sure which one people are writing about. Then there are some species cultivated locally in southern China. Much more here to explore - and experiment with as well?

Another doubling up month was fonio in May. The main species is Digitaria exilis, and that appears to be what we see imported into Northern countries from West Africa. There is another, which is cultivated mainly in eastern West Africa - D. iburua. We need more information on the latter. The fonio picture in West Africa is complicated slightly by the fact that one of the Brachiaria species spotlighted in September - B. deflexa - is apparently treated locally as a "large-grained fonio" in the part of Futa Jalon Guinea where it is cultivated. All of this left out two Digitaria species from other regions: raishan (D. compacta) in NE India; and "Polish millet" (D. sanguinalis), which was in the past cultivated in Eastern Europe, but we have no info on current use. So, May presents a more complicated picture than the millet-of-the-month concept was initially designed for.

Kodo had last month, October, to itself, and in researching it, the beginnings of a story started to emerge. It is a grain of contrasts: coming from Africa, but being cultivated in Asia. It is both a crop said to have high production potential, and an annoying invasive species to farmers in many regions. Kodo also has an attractive nutritional profile, but under certain conditions can be susceptible to a fungus creating mycotoxins. I personally found it to be a nice addition to my repertoire of grains (a millet without the proverbial "nutty" flavor). What is the future of this millet worldwide, and could it ever be a crop in suitable growing areas of North America?

Each of the millets has a compelling story, in my estimation, and those stories are developing as we move forward.

Anyway, stay tuned for more on all the above..In the meantime, any feedback is welcome on this project and its form and future. (One issue is how late in each month the info has tended to go out - that is my fault.)

We close out the International Year of Millets and the millet-of-the-month calendar for 2023 with teff in November; and adlay millet or Job's tears in December - taking us from the smallest millet, which happens to be from Africa, to the largest one, which is from Asia.

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


NAMA Millet-of-the-Month calendar

Jan., proso millet, Panicum miliaceum
Feb., finger millet, Eleusine coracana
Mar., foxtail millet, Setaria italica
Apr., pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum
May, fonio, Digitaria spp.
June, sorghum, Sorghum bicolor
July, barnyard millet, Echinochloa spp.
Aug., little millet, Panicum sumatrense (plus P. hirticaule, sometimes called Sonoran millet)
Sep., browntop & Guinea, Brachiaria spp.
Oct., kodo millet, Paspalum scrobiculatum
Nov., teff, Eragrostis tef
Dec., adlay/Job’s Tears, Coix lacryma-jobi