Despite its specific name - Setaria italica - foxtail millet was domesticated in China, millennia ago. Like millets elsewhere in the world, it became less favored by farmers and agricultural planners until a recent rebound. In our March 2023 Millets Webinar, Prof. Francesca Bray gave some very interesting insights into this resurgence of interest in China (proso as well as foxtail, but many examples were the latter) - https://youtu.be/IUeLldImLzE (from about 26:50). Here are some recent items with more information on the agronomic side of renewed attention to foxtail millet. These discuss landraces and newer cultivars, overall increase in productivity, and two recent varieties that are currently getting attention: 1. First, a map showing locations of different groups of landraces of foxtail millet in China: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-the-collection-locations-of-Chine... . This is from the article: Guanqing Jia, et al, "Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Chinese Foxtail Millet [Setaria italica (L.) Beauv.] Landraces," G3 Genes Genomes Genetics · July 2012 DOI: 10.1534/g3.112.002907 . I won' try to summarize the research here, but would note that it involved genotypic analysis of 250 landraces. I thought this was a good way to look at the diversity of this millet in the land of its origin. 2. Second, an article mentions 870 cultivars of foxtail millet released in China since 1950: Diao, Xianmin. (2016). "Production and genetic improvement of minor cereals in China." The Crop Journal. 5. 10.1016/j.cj.2016.06.004. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305628211_Production_and_genetic_im... 3. Another article notes that new varieties, mechanization, and improved cultivation technology have resulted in a twenty-fold increase in production capacity of foxtail millet: LI ShunGuo, LIU Fei, LIU Meng, CHENG RuHong, XIA EnJun, DIAO XianMin. "Current Status and Future Prospective of Foxtail Millet Production and Seed Industry in China." Scientia Agricultura Sinica, 2021, 54(3): 459-470. https://www.chinaagrisci.com/EN/10.3864/j.issn.0578-1752.2021.03.001 4. A comparative analysis of traditional and modern varieties of foxtail millet is offered in another article: Ke Ma, Xiangyang Yuan, Zheng Jia, Huayu Lu, Xiangyang Chen, Xinya Wen, and Fu Chen, "Changes in the grain quality of foxtail millet released in China from the 1970s to the 2020s," Food Research International, Vol. 209, May 2025, 116316 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2025.116316 (abstract and beginning only are accessible without subscription). This article offers the following key points before the abstract: * Old foxtail millet varieties had large grains, high nutritional value, sweet and fruity flavor. * Modern foxtail millet varieties are bright yellow, soft, easy to cook, and flavorful. * Transitional foxtail millet variety possesses the advantages to both. * There is a compensation between the nutritional quality and the organoleptic quality [i.e., sensory properties like taste] of foxtail. * Breeders should pay attention to effectively utilize the quality advantages of the J21. [This may possibly be the "Jingu 21" variety, but that would be explained in the body of the article] 5. Another team of authors led by the lead author of the previous article, Ke Ma, had earlier written about the performance of the Jingu 21 variety: Ke Ma, Lirong Zhao, Xiatong Zhao, Xiaorui Li, Shuqi Dong, Liguang Zhang, Pingyi Guo, Xiangyang Yuan, and Xianmin Diao, "The relationship between ecological factors and commercial quality of high-quality foxtail millet 'Jingu 21'," Food Research International, Vol. 163, 2023, 112225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2022.112225. (abstract and limited selections only are accessible without subscription). 6. Finally, a report that a new variety of foxtail millet - "Zhonggu 25" - has achieved a remarkable yield level of over 9 tons per hectare (almost 140 bushels/acre): "China's new foxtail millet variety sets summer yield record," Xinhua (via News.cn), 16 Sep. 2024 https://english.news.cn/20240916/5ed85a5713fc423faa24fae1eda25bad/c.html Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance