Thank you, David, this is helpful. Fwiw, I have added an asterisk to little millet in the millets triangle for North America (attached). Any comments on the latter are welcome. Some questions: * When you say that 250 accessions are available for distribution, what does that mean in practice? * I'm assuming that little millet is not as well adapted as proso to drier conditions, but might there be regions on this continent where it might be expected to do well? * Are you aware of other millets in the triangle outside the colored cells that have been grown on an experimental basis in North America? Regarding kodo, since it is classified as a noxious weed(!) in the US, I suppose there's no possibility that the folks in Griffin, Georgia have planted any fields with any accessions? Btw, I have both little and kodo millets in my cupboard - just had some little millet cooked with oatmeal last week. Figure I need to walk the talk wrt millets as food. Don DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Thu, Dec 15, 2022 at 2:09 PM Brenner, David <david.brenner@usda.gov> wrote:
Don, and other Milleteers,
I have grown little millet (*Panicum sumatrense*) here in Iowa and some accessions are adapted. This is as part of the US National Plant germplasm System; 250 accessions are available for distribution. Here is a link to one with pictures: https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail?id=1358456 They are annuals with smaller seeds than proso millet.
Panicum is a large genius with hundreds of species. I presume that they all have edible seeds and are more or less millets. I like the comparison with switchgrass (*Panicum virgatum*) which is perennial and cultivated for conservation and as a garden ornamental. Since switchgrass is commercial it is possible to purchase large quantities of switchgrass seeds, just like a millet, and try them as food. I do not know what would happen, there could be some bad consequence that I do not know about. The agronomy is ready to go since fields of perennial switchgrass are already planted, and managed.
Taxonomy links in the NPGS GRIN system: Switchgrass: https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=26657 Little millet: https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=103520 Proso millet: https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=317710
I am not the curator for kodo or switchgrass since they are maintained at our sister station in Griffin, Georgia.
David Brenner (he/him) David.Brenner@USDA.GOV
Or: dbrenner@iastate.edu Plant Introduction Station phone 515-294-6786 Iowa State University fax 515-294-4880 716 Farm House Lane, Ames, IA 50011-1051 USA
https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/search.aspx?
Curator of: Amaranthus, Celosia, Chenopodium, Coronilla, Dalea, Galega, Melilotus, Perilla, Portulaca, Spinacia, miscellaneous Umbelliferae, and the millets: Echinochloa, Panicum, and Setaria.
NC7 Regional Project in the US National Plant Germplasm System
------------------------------ *From:* Collab <collab-bounces@lists.millets2023.space> on behalf of Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org> *Sent:* Wednesday, December 14, 2022 8:07 PM *To:* collab@lists.millets2023.space <collab@lists.millets2023.space> *Subject:* [EXTERNAL: Suspicious Link][Collab] Little millet & kodo millet in North America?
*CAUTION:* This message triggered warnings of *potentially* malicious web content. Consider whether you are expecting the message, along with inspection for suspicious links, prior to clicking. Any concerns with known senders, use a good contact method to verify. *Send Questions or Suspicious messages to: Spam.Abuse@usda.gov <Spam.Abuse@usda.gov>* A question came up in the NAMA meeting on Nov. 17, concerning whether anyone in North America is growing either little millet (*Panicum sumatrense*) or kodo millet (*Paspalum scrobiculatum*). I'll offer answers here and add some info of possible interest.
The short answers are no - neither little millet nor kodo millet are grown as crops in North America. Longer answers follow:
LITTLE MILLET (not to be confused with switchgrass)
It may be that there is no little millet as a plant at all in North America. (It is a native to, and domesticated in, Asia.) Confusing the matter a bit is that a related species that is native to North America, *Panicum virgatum* (called a switchgrass) has evidently at some time been given the synonym *P. sumatrense*./1 /2 However, it is not the same. *P. virgatum* is grown as an ornamental, with some discussion of its value for biofuel. I don't find any information on whether its seeds were ever used as food in the distant past.
It is interesting that two other relatives of little millet in the Panicum genus are grown as food in North America, namely proso millet (P. miliaceum) and Sonoran panic grass or millet (P. hiericaule), altho the latter only on a very small scale.
KODO MILLET (aka ricegrass paspalum)
On the other hand, kodo millet, better known in the US (and Canada?) by names such as ricegrass paspalum, is present in North America, but it is not grown as a crop. In fact, it has been "declared a 'noxious or quarantine weed' in at least ten states" in the US, and as "a noxious weed by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA-APHIS)."/3
Kodo is a native of Africa, but a crop mainly in South Asia. I have no info on how it came to North America, but might it have been from seeds brought during the slave trade?/4 /5
Kodo appears to be the only member of the *Paspalum* genus to be cultivated for its grains. Another member of this genus, *P. vaginatum*, aka seashore paspalum, has received attention as a resilient turfgrass. A cultivar of this species is being used in the fields at the current World Cup in Qatar /6
Don
Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US North American Millets Alliance
Notes: 1. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/panicum-virgatum-northwind/ <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fplants.ces.ncsu.edu%2Fplants%2Fpanicum-virgatum-northwind%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C36b12655e64d4b30689208dade41646f%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C0%7C0%7C638066669692295110%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=0Tyfxq2wQ6kHTqbJyTuWnV%2Be0vs4g%2FpGQdJFay3gBnQ%3D&reserved=0> 2. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderProfileResult... <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.missouribotanicalgarden.org%2FPlantFinder%2FPlantFinderProfileResults.aspx%3Fadv%3DPanicum%2520virgatum&data=05%7C01%7C%7C36b12655e64d4b30689208dade41646f%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C0%7C0%7C638066669692295110%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=uRldP40rXWQa0f1JHtjIXd40Se6723JuIScWduh7B1o%3D&reserved=0> 3. http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=1423 <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iucngisd.org%2Fgisd%2Fspecies.php%3Fsc%3D1423&data=05%7C01%7C%7C36b12655e64d4b30689208dade41646f%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C0%7C0%7C638066669692295110%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=91xRTx%2FxIFWN9HPSGzXadmElnVbmXl4GsveoQ8dmwYs%3D&reserved=0> 4. https://www.science.org/content/article/american-rice-out-africa <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.science.org%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2Famerican-rice-out-africa&data=05%7C01%7C%7C36b12655e64d4b30689208dade41646f%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C0%7C0%7C638066669692295110%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=GyATmb8zgN5hd7uj6orkxilMuEVW8iJcIWyRfuu2QhY%3D&reserved=0> 5. https://www.geog.psu.edu/sites/www.geog.psu.edu/files/event/miller-lecture-c... <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geog.psu.edu%2Fsites%2Fwww.geog.psu.edu%2Ffiles%2Fevent%2Fmiller-lecture-coffee-hour-out-africa-food-legacies-atlantic-slavery-americas%2Fcarneychapter2africanethnobotanyintheamericas.pdf&data=05%7C01%7C%7C36b12655e64d4b30689208dade41646f%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C0%7C0%7C638066669692295110%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=n7BOAhWrCF%2Bry7F5%2B989xbLEty9ujE4kaTRaJbYQp3c%3D&reserved=0> (see especialy under "Slave Agency in Instigating the Cultivation of African Foodstaples") 6. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=5a34763e-a2c7-44e7-8fb3-2859f... <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lexology.com%2Flibrary%2Fdetail.aspx%3Fg%3D5a34763e-a2c7-44e7-8fb3-2859f7d8fdeb&data=05%7C01%7C%7C36b12655e64d4b30689208dade41646f%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C0%7C0%7C638066669692295110%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ntEjq1WRycRBqQZAGdZvDmKcgwuAGE8V%2FW%2Fjw5HOms0%3D&reserved=0> (see under "Plant Breeders' Rights")
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