Proso millet | |
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Ripe proso millet | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Monocots |
(unranked): | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Genus: | Panicum |
Species: | P. miliaceum |
Binomial name | |
Panicum miliaceum L. |
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Synonyms | |
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Panicum miliaceum, with many common names including proso millet,broomcorn millet,common millet,broomtail millet,hog millet,Kashfi millet red millet, and white millet, is a grass species used as a crop. Both the wild ancestor and location of the original domestication of proso millet are unknown, but it first appears as a crop in both Transcaucasia and China about 7,000 years ago, suggesting it may have been domesticated independently in each area. It is still extensively cultivated in India, Nepal, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Middle East, Turkey and Romania. In the United States, proso is mainly grown for birdseed. It is sold as health food, and due to its lack of gluten, it can be included in the diets of people who cannot tolerate wheat.
The name comes from the pan-Slavic general and generic name for millet (Russian, Belarusian, Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian: просо and Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Croatian: proso).