Proso millet

Proso millet

The proso millet or True ( Panicum miliaceum ) is a Hirsenart of the genus Panicum. She is an old cereal plant. In Europe of potatoes and corn displaced, it is still cultivated today in many parts of Asia.

Features

The proso millet is an annual plant, reaching heights of growth from 30 to 100, rarely to 150 cm. Their stems are erect, branched mostly at the lower nodes, striate, 2-5 mm thick and hairy below the nodes 2 to 3 mm long. The four to eight nodes are hairy 1 to 2 mm long. The leaf sheaths are clearly ripped and rauhaarig between the ribs. The ligule is membranous and ciliated 1 to 2 mm long. The leaf blades are 10-40 cm long and 8-25 mm wide. They are flat, ribbed, rauhaarig in the lower range, otherwise hairy scattered short ribs and edge are rough.

The inflorescence is 10-30 cm long, erect to pendent, loose to tight. Against the back ground it is often enveloped by the top leaf sheath. The side branches are rough and edgy. The spikelets sit long stems to 2 to 6 mm, are 4.5 to 5 mm long and pointed. The lower glume is five to seven annoying, two-thirds as long as the spikelet and pointed. The upper glume is nine-to elfnervig and pointed. The lower floret is sterile, its lemma is nine-to elfnervig. The lemma of the upper floret hermaphrodite is approximately one mm shorter than the spikelet, pale yellow, blackish or white, glossy and thickened cartilaginous. The dust bags are 1.2 to 1.5 mm long and dark purple. Bloom time is from June to September, the species is self-pollinating.

The caryopsis is slightly smaller than the lemma, has a circular outline and is about 3 mm long. Their color ranges from straw-colored to reddish brown, olive-brown to blackish, but can also be white. The thousand-seed weight is 4-8 grams. The protein content is up to 10 (rarely even up to 18 percent), the fat content of approximately 4 percent. Some varieties are even gluten - sustainable and thus provide breadmaking quality of flour.

The chromosome number is 2n = 36

Dissemination and locations

The original home of the millet is located in Central Asia. It is grown as a cereal plant in the Old World for thousands of years and is often neglected. It is less need temperatures than other millet species.

It grows wild in Central Europe on dumps, railways and ports. In gardens they mostly from wild bird food. It occurs primarily on nutrient-rich, light and sandy loam soils of hill, rarely also the montane zone.

System

Within the species, three subspecies are distinguished:

• Cultivated millet ( Panicum miliaceum subsp miliaceum. ): The spikelets fall to fruit maturity not from or from which Ährchenachse breaks only under pressure. In Central Europe, there are three ( Con) varieties: var effusum, the flutter - proso millet, with Spreading and very loose panicle. It is the most primitive culture clan.
• Var contractum, the Klump - proso millet, with a contracted panicle, which is denser than the above reason. The branches are overhanging.
• Var compactum, the thickness of millet, with contracted, the same everywhere dense panicle, all branches stand upright.

• Weed millet ( Panicum miliaceum subsp ruderal ( Kitagawa ) Tzvelev. ): The panicle is upright, their branches are as stiff. The Ährchenachse decays with the upper flower, even the Ährchenstiel is divided. The false fruits and also the husks fall off when ripe. The Spelzfrüchte are dark colored. This subspecies grows in cornfields and on dumps. In Germany it has been proven since 1982.

• Loggerhead weed millet ( Panicum miliaceum subsp agricolum Scholz & Mikolas. ): The panicle is more contracted and nodding. The spikelets fall from the maturity of the stand remaining glumes, the glumes membranous but remain standing. It is known from Carinthia, Styria, Czech Republic and the Alsace.

Cultivation and use

The proso millet is grown mainly in Central Asia, northern China, Japan and India. The vegetation period, depending on location and type 60 to 90 days, the water demand is relatively low. The northern cultivation limit is the 20 ° C July isotherm. In the Himalayas, the millet is grown up to 3000 m above sea level. The grains do not mature simultaneously in the panicles, high risk of failure, the harvested before they are fully ripe. The yields are usually around one tonne per hectare and may be under favorable conditions up to 5 tons.

The fruits are consumed as grain, porridge and bread or processed into millet beer. The straw is suitable as a feed for ruminants.

History

The proso millet is one of the earliest domesticated cereals, its origins are in Central Asia. The oldest finds are from the old Neolithic.

In Europe, it was up to the Iron Age very little cultivated, but spread significantly in pre-Roman times out, in Germany it comes in around 30 % of all sites of this period before. The growing area in Europe comprised particularly of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe. In the first three centuries AD, the millet was partially displaced by the barley.

The Romans called the millet milium and used them to bread and porridge

In the Middle Ages it was an important food in Central Europe and was regarded as the bread of the poor man. However, the focus shifted towards Eastern Europe. It was only eaten as mush as there were no adhesive-containing varieties. It was largely displaced in central Europe later of the potato in southern Europe from corn. The cultivation was operated in sandy areas until the early 20th century, such as in Pomerania, Posen, Thuringia, Brandenburg, in the lower Danube countries and in southern Russia. In Austria it is grown for birdseed production, or even being as cereals.

Documents

• H. J. Conert: Pareys grasses book. Identify and determine the grasses Germany. Blackwell Scientific Publishers, Berlin, Vienna, 2000, p 428 ISBN 3-8263-3327-6
• Siegmund Seybold (ed.): Schmeil Fitschen - interactive ( CD -Rom ), Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2001/2002, ISBN 3-494-01327-6
• Udelgard Körber Grohne: crops in Germany, from prehistory to today. Theiss, Stuttgart 1995 ( ISBN 3-933203-40-6 Reprint ) (story)