Traditional Varieties of Pearl Millet and Food Diversity

The most extensively cultivated kind of millet is the pearl millet (Cenchrus americanus, also known as Pennisetum glaucum, also known as “Bajra” in Hindi, “Sajje” in Kannada, “Kambu” in Tamil, and “Gero” in Hausa). Since ancient times, it has been grown in the dry and semi-arid parts of Africa and the Indian subcontinent, which are characterized by marginal soils (Tako et al. 2015). The Sahel region of West Africa is the region with the greatest diversity and is thought to have domesticated the crop (Manning et al. 2011). Recent archaeobotanical studies have demonstrated that domesticated pearl millet was present in northern Mali’s Sahel region between 2500 and 2000 BC. Its 2n = 14 chromosomal number is present. It belongs to the family Poaceae.