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Foxtail millet, scientific name Setaria italica (synonym Panicum italicum L.), is an annual grass grown for human food. It is the second-most widely planted species of millet and the most grown millet species in Asia. The oldest evidence of foxtail millet cultivation was found along the ancient course of the Yellow River in Cishan culture, to be from around 8,000 years before present.
Other names for the species include dwarf setaria, foxtail bristle-grass, giant setaria, green foxtail, Italian millet, German millet, and Hungarian millet.
The seedhead is a dense, hairy panicle long.
The small seeds, around in diameter, are encased in a thin, papery hull which is easily removed in threshing. Seed color varies greatly between varieties.
Common names for foxtail millet in other languages spoken in the countries where it is cultivated include:
The earliest evidence of the cultivation of this grain comes from the Peiligang culture of China, which also cultivated Panicum miliaceum, but foxtail millet became the predominant grain only with the Yangshao culture. More recently, the Cishan culture of China has been identified as the earliest to domesticate foxtail millet around 6500–5500 BC. Foxtail millet has also been grown in India since antiquity.
The earliest evidence for foxtail millet cultivation outside of its native distribution is at Chengtoushan in the Middle Yangtze River region, dating to around 4000 BC. (2025). 9786167339023, River Books. ISBN 9786167339023 In southern China, foxtail millet reached the Chengdu Plain (Baodun culture) at around 2700 BC and Guangxi (near the Vietnamese border) at around 3000 BC. Foxtail millet also reached Taiwan (Nankuanli, Dapenkeng culture) at around 2800 BC and the Tibetan Plateau (Karuo culture) at around 3000 BC.
Foxtail millet likely reached Southeast Asia via multiple routes. The earliest evidence for foxtail millet in Southeast Asia comes from various sites in the Khao Wong Prachan Valley in central Thailand, with the site at Non Pa Wai providing the earliest date with direct AMS dating to around 2300 BC.
The earliest evidence for foxtail millet in East Siberia comes from the archaeological site at Krounovka 1 in Primorsky Krai, dating to around 3620–3370 BC. The earliest direct evidence for foxtail millet in Korea come from Dongsam-dong Shell Midden, a Jeulmun site in southern Korea, with a direct AMS date of around 3,360 BC. In Japan, the earliest evidence for foxtail millet comes from the Jōmon site at Usujiri in Hokkaido, dating to around 4,000 Before Present.
Foxtail millet arrived in Europe later; carbonized seeds first appear in the second millennium BC in central Europe. The earliest definite evidence for its cultivation in the Near East is at the Iron Age levels at Tille Hoyuk in Turkey, with an uncorrected radiocarbon date of about 600 BC.
In Karbi Anglong district of Assam, India, millets have been an integral part of the food system of the Karbis as well as the Jhum fields. Hanjangmilen, Karbi name of foxtail millets have been visible in the Jhum fields in the past. But today it is hardly visible in the Jhum fields. But farmers are now bringing the traditional crop back into their food system which needs little water, grows well on poor soil, is fast-growing and suffers from very few diseases.
In China, foxtail millet was the main staple food in the north before Song dynasty, when wheat started to become the main staple food. It is still the most common millet and one of the main food crops in the dry northern part of the country, especially among the poor. In Southeast Asia, foxtail millet is commonly cultivated in its dry, upland regions. In Europe and North America it is planted at a moderate scale for hay and silage, and to a more limited extent for birdseed.
In the northern Philippines, foxtail millet was once an important staple crop, until its later replacement by wet-rice and sweet potato cultivation.
It is a warm season crop, typically planted in late spring. Harvest for hay or silage can be made in 65–70 days with a typical yield of of green matter or of hay. Harvest for cereal is in 75–90 days with a typical yield of of grain. Its early maturity and efficient use of available water make it suitable for raising in dry areas.
One study found that – for the rabi crop in Tamil Nadu – breeding for foxtail crop yield should begin from germplasm with the most productive tillers, medium panicle length and medium duration.
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