Don,

By 205 accessions of little millet are available, I mean that if a researcher wanted to plant a trial field of 205 different accessions, or some similar project, we could send seeds packets for 205 accessions for the researcher to plant. 206, little millet accessions were evaluated for adaptation (= matures seeds) in Ames Iowa. Of these 206: 179 had full adaptation, 16 flowered to late to mature seeds, and 15 reached partial maturity. This adaptation data is online under descriptors at this link: https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/crop?id=226   

I do not have an answer for the little millet, drier conditions question. It has probably been tried a the Panhandle station in western Nebraska so someone would know and it could be looked up on some publication. I think the limiting thing is more the marketing stream rather than adaptation.

I am glad that you are trying the diverse millets in your kitchen, it is a good project. I am also very glad that you are bringing fresh eyes to these topics. You might also try diverse millets in a bird feeder for wild birds in your backyard.

"Harrison, Melanie" <melanie.harrison@usda.gov> is the person to ask about millets at our station in Georgia.  It would be good to bring her in to your discussions.
PGRCU Personnel - Melanie L. Harrison : USDA ARS
I think Panicum hirticaule has been grown in experimental plots. It has been grown enough that there is no doubt about it being adapted. 

I do not know what Polish Millet  or Taiwan oil millet are. The following has a good attempt to resolve the millet common name confusion: Dwivedi et al.  2012. Millets: Genetic and Genomic Resources. Plant Breeding Reviews. 35:247-375.

The reason I wrote 205 accessions above instead of 250 accession below is that I re-checked our database and corrected myself to 205, oops.

David Brenner
From: Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2022 9:22 PM
To: Brenner, David <david.brenner@usda.gov>
Cc: collab@lists.millets2023.space <collab@lists.millets2023.space>
Subject: Re: [Collab] Little millet & kodo millet in North America?
 
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:
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:

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  


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
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





This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.