Plant · P-722

Fonio

Digitaria exilis

Fonio is the smallest cereal grain grown anywhere, a tiny West African staple that ripens faster than any other cereal - some varieties are ready to harvest in as little as six to eight weeks, closing the hungry gap before maize or millet comes in. It thrives on poor, acid, aluminum-toxic soil that stops most other grains cold, needs no fertilizer, and both its straw and its grain make good livestock feed. The catch is processing: getting the grain out of its hull takes several rounds of pounding and up to ten liters of water per kilogram, so anyone growing it at scale needs a plan for dehulling before they need a plan for planting.