Plant · P-686

Finger Millet

Eleusine coracana

Finger millet is a warm-season annual grass grown for its small, finger-shaped seed heads, ground into flour or porridge or cooked like rice across much of eastern and southern Africa and South Asia. The grain carries more protein, fat and minerals than rice, maize or sorghum, and the whole plant doubles as livestock feed - the grain, green forage and post-harvest straw all go to cattle, sheep and goats. It wants full sun and cannot grow in shade, and despite its reputation as a tough dryland crop it needs a fair amount of rain and a mild growing season to fill its grain, making it less drought-hardy than pearl or proso millet.