The tradition of making millet porridge has its roots in the deep past. Millet is the oldest cereal that came to Russia from China or Mongolia. The polished grain of the plant is millet.
Main processing areas
Today, up to 500 types of millet are known. Cultivation is traditionally carried out by residents of areas with an arid and semi-arid climate. Asian countries (China, Mongolia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) account for more than 55% of world millet production. In Africa (Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda, Senegal) - up to 25%. In the post-Soviet space, millet is mainly cultivated in the steppe regions of Ukraine and Kazakhstan as food grain, and in the Republic of Belarus - as feed grain.
Millet in Russia
In the territory of the Russian Federation, 8 plant species are found, and only 2 of them are cultivated: common millet - Panicum muliaceum L. (cereal) and capitate - Setaria italica L (green mass for livestock feed).
Depending on the collection of inflorescences, millet ordinary has 5 subspecies: oval and lumpy (cultivated as heat-loving and drought-resistant), sprawling and spreading (less heat-loving, can grow even in the Non-Black Earth region) and compressed (drooping).
Setaria (Italian, boron millet) is cultivated in the Far East. It has 2 subspecies - Chumizu and Moghar.
The main crops of common millet are concentrated in Western Siberia, Bashkiria, in the Central Black Earth Region, on the fertile lands of the North Caucasus. The areas sown by precocious varieties of millet are constantly increasing in the Non-Chernozem region and Eastern Siberia.
Biological features
Millet is an annual, self-pollinating, photophilous plant. Vegetation is short - from two to four months. When planted broadly, it yields from seven hollow stems, usually bushiness - 2-3 stems.
The main crops (rye, wheat, barley, oats) have narrower leaves on the stem than millet. Inflorescences are panicles of various types: from branchy to lumpy.
The roots can penetrate to a meter and a half depth, but the main supply mass is located in a layer of up to 40 centimeters.
Growth after germination is slow (2-3 weeks), for this reason the plant is poorly resistant to fast-growing weeds. Millet is a plant that requires moisture in the topsoil: the more moisture, the faster the nodal roots develop. Under adverse conditions, lodging of crops may occur with blowing and clipping of the roots. The tillering intensity depends on the moisture supply, the availability of nutrients, favorable sowing dates (from May 15), the required seed placement depth (5 cm), and the minimum weeds.
Agricultural technology
Millet serves as a good safety plant when other crops (both winter and spring) did not sprout or die. This is due to the late landing dates - from mid-May to June. Seeds begin to sprout together only at sufficiently high temperatures - from 14 degrees, the temperature from 18 degrees is considered the best.
Millet is a plant demanding on the structure of the soil : the highest productivity is noted on structural chernozems and chestnut soils (up to 50 centners per hectare). Cultivated land with a neutral and slightly alkaline reaction with a sufficient supply of moisture can produce stably high yields.
Due to the fact that weed infestation leads to a decrease in yield, it is necessary to carefully prepare the soil for sowing: snow retention, early harrowing (when the first weeds have already sprouted), up to three subsequent cultivations with high weed.
To obtain stable crops in the spring, fertilizers are required - calcium, phosphorus, nitrogen. This is not necessary if the precursors of millet were potatoes or beets: soil fertility remains high. Good yields millet after winter crops. In a monoculture, it dies due to damage by fungal diseases.
The main pests of the plant are thrips, midge, cicadas, stem moth.
The yield of millet in Russia leaves much to be desired: from 8 to 12 centners per hectare, although in Soviet times in Kazakhstan, the country-famous Chaganak Bersiev in 1941 received a crop of almost 156 centners per hectare, and in 1943 - 201.
Food value
The weight of millet for nutrition has passed the test of time: millet in Russia takes second place after buckwheat.
Processed grain is used for cereal. Millet, freed only from the rough flower shell, is called dranets. After grinding, millet is obtained. Crusher is a by-product of grinding. And newfangled flakes are the result of heat and mechanical processing of millet itself.
The popularity of millet is due to nutrition (up to 13% protein, almost 81% starch, up to 3.8% fat), balanced taste (trace elements and mineral salts), healing properties (the content of B vitamins is higher than that of other grains), ease of digestibility and high degree of digestibility.
The effect of grain color on the quality of cereals
According to the color intensity, grains of millet are divided into three types: the first type is with white and cream color, the second is red millet (all shades of this gamut to dark brown), and the third with yellow color. Varieties of millet cultivated in the Russian Federation Orlovsky dwarf and Vsepodolyanskoye-59 are classified as the first type; Standard, Gorlinka, Barnaul-80, Orenburg-9, Saratov-6, Saratov-3, Omsk-10, Lipetsk - to the second, and Kinelsk-92, Belgorod-1, Kharkov-8 and Kharkov-57 - to the third.
The color of the grain depends on the presence or absence of anthocyanins (colorants). The kernel (millet) has a brighter color (thick yellow) under the condition of intensive color of the grain, respectively, both consumer qualities and price are higher.
Feed value
Millet is an indispensable part of the feed ration in animal husbandry and poultry farming.
Unpolished millet grain is used as food for birds: chickens increase egg production, shell strength increases, and for chickens millet porridge and grain - the necessary food. Flour from millet mixed with food additives feed geese and pigs. Waste from the production of millet is used for the preparation of animal feed and as a concentrated feed for animals.
Millet straw is much more valuable as roughage than straw from other grains, because after harvesting it remains green and with a lot of leaves.
Fresh millet (greens) is an excellent feed for cattle and sheep, so it is often sown on pastures.
Any grain feed for birds is based on millet. Recently, there has been a practice of forcing millet to greens in limited quantities (containers, roll mats) for both decorative and poultry.
Millet pricing in Russia
Due to the high capital intensity of the storages, which is associated both with biological characteristics (the grain is very small, ventilation or cooling is required), and with dependence on weather conditions, feed millet is often offered for sale. The price of the supplied grain depends on the quality: the closer to the requirements of the standard, the higher it is. The existing requirements for the supply of grain for processing are quite stringent and not all agricultural firms (even large ones) can provide them. Domestic agricultural producers practically do not supply millet for export. The main imports come from Turkey and Mongolia, countries that produce high-quality millet.