Finger Millet

Description

Eleusine coracana, or finger millet, is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and self-pollinating species probably evolved from its wild relative Eleusine africana. Finger millet is native to the Ethiopian and Ugandan highlands. Interesting crop characteristics of finger millet are the ability to withstand cultivation at altitudes over 2000 meters above sea level, its favorable micronutrient contents (high iron and methionine content in particular), its high drought tolerance and the very long storage time of the grains. It is an herb that reaches a height of 30 to 90 cm . It ends in a bunch of 5 to 7 spikes, which look like the fingers of a hand or claw. Each spike can be up to 10 cm long and 60 to 80 spikelets, each with 4 to 6 flowers in two rows.