Pearl Millet   &   Sorghum

Pearl Millet - For Image Click Here
 

  History

Pearl Millet is today the worlds sixth most important cereal grain. It is a decedent from a wild West African grass which grew in what is now the Sahara desert over 4000 years ago. It is currently planted on over 14 million acres in Africa upon which it is estimated 500 million people depend for their survival. Pearl Millet is the staple crop in the semi-arid region stretching over 7000 km from Sinagal to Somalia (almost 1/6 of the globe at the latitude), upon which African farmers produce 40% of the worlds millet.

Pearl millet grain is resistant to drought and it is a able crop in virtually any soil. It thrives on light textured and well drained soils.  Generally, pearl millet is considered more efficient in utilization of soil moisture and has a higher level of heat tolerance than does sorghum and maize. These facts make millet an important food staple all over the African continent, especially  in the semi-arid areas of the Western Shaeal where other crops tend to fail because inadequate rainfall and poor soil conditions. Pearl millet plants vary in panicle length, seed size, seed color, and plant height, depending on the cultivators and environments. Pearl Millet is mostly grown on community or private fields and consumed locally.

Links

 Lost Crops of Africa - Great book that is available online about the history and future uses of the staple grains of Africa (Highly Recommended)

 
Harvesting and Preparation

Millet is taken from the field by removing the long grainy  head from the rest of the stock Before it can be used for food it must be processed to remove the uneatable portion of the husk. The millet is first threshed to remove the usable grain from the hard husk and break-up the grain into smaller more manageable pieces. Further separation is then done by manual pounding .  Grain is normally pounded with a wooden pestle in a wooden or stone mortar. It is common for the millet to first be moistened with about 10 percent water or soaked overnight to make the pounding easier. A woman working were hard can at best pound only 1.5 kg of grain per hour. After the usable portion of the grain has been separated by pounding the edible portion is removed winnowing or sieving. Winnowing is a process to separate grains from chaff by blowing air.  The whole content is thrown up in the air, and the grain and chaff get separated out by gravity. The lighter chafe is blow away leaving behind the heavier usable grain. The final step in processing millet is making flour. Traditional grinding stones used to grind grain to flour usually consist of a small stone which is held in the hand and a larger flat stone which is placed on the ground. Grain is crushed by the backward and forward movement of the hand-held stone on the lower stone. The work is very laborious, and it is hard work for anyone to grind more than 2 kg of flour in an hour.
 

The following images show the progression of millet from crop to usable flour

One month Pre-mature
   image 1

Ready for Harvest
    image 1

Post Harvest and Storage
   image 1
     image 2
     image 3

Pounding
    image 1
       image 2
       image 3

Winnowing
       image 1
 

All of the above images are apart of the Africa Focus project at University of Wisconsin-Madison. University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. Africa Focus. 2000. http://africafocus.library.wisc.edu/.

 
Millet Recipes

Ingredients

millet   1 1/2  cups
water   10  cups
sugar   1  cup

Cooking Instructions

     Clean the millet, removing the dust by screening.
     Soak the millet for 2 or 3 days until it is swollen.
     Remove from water and allow to dry.
     Pound the millet not too finely.
     Boil water and add the millet flour. Stir well until the mixture cooks and is smooth. Cook until done.
     Add sugar and let the mixture cool.
     Serve as is as a drink, or allow to stand until sour.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (1991), Post harvest and processing technologies of African staple foods: a technical compendium, ISBN 92-5-103076-6, Rome
 
 

Millet Pancakes

         Ingredients

•   2       cup                Millet flour
• 1 1/4   cup                Lukewarm water
• Margarine or oil
• Sugar  to taste
• 1 pinch of salt

         Cooking Instructions

• Sift flour into a bowl and gradually pour in the warm water, stirring and mixing well as you do so to make a smooth, runny paste. Set aside for 4 hours.
• After this, heat the margarine or oil in a shallow pan or griddle plate. While it is warming. beat the batter with a spoon.
• When the margarine or oil is hot, ladle or pour enough batter in the pan to make a saucer sized pancake and cook until crisp. You can turn it once if you like but it is not essential.

        *This dish is often served as aa snack with honey or fruit chutney

 Source: http://www.recipesource.com/

Research Links

The following links provide information on some of the organizations working to increase the productivity and quality of Millet cultivation in the developing world.

ICRISAT - International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics home page.

CGIAR - Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research millet page

Syngenta - Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. -  a DuPont company, is the world's leading developer and supplier of advanced plant genetics to farmers worldwide. millet page

Pearl Millet - Information on Pearl Millet Research at Colorado State University
 
 

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Sorghum - For Image Click Here
 
 

History

Sorghum originated in the north-eastern quadrant of Africa, where the greatest variability in wild and cultivated species are found to this day. Today it is the leading cereal grain on the African continent, and Nigeria is the worlds second largest producer of grain sorghum. The plant is rather drought resistant and is therefore an extremely important commodity that provides necessary food and feed for millions of people living in semi-arid environments worldwide. Sorghum is often ground into flour to make pancakes or mush. Sorghum is mainly grown as one of the major crops (often besides millet) on community or private fields and mostly consumed locally.

Links

• Lost Crops of Africa - Great book that is available online about the history and future uses of the staple grains of Africa (Highly Recommended)
• Crops Gallery: Sorghum - Provides additional info on the basics of sorghum
• African Food Staples - Provides a brief background on a wide variety of common African cooking ingredients
   

   
   

  Harvesting and Preparation

  Sorghum processing is done very simmilar to millet (see above)
   

The following images show the harvesting and processing of Sorghum into usable flour.

Harvest
image 1

Cutting Tops of Sorghum
image 1
image 2

Drying
image 1

Winnowing and Threshing
image 1
image 2
image 3

Making Flour
image 1

All of the above images are apart of the Africa Focus project at University of Wisconsin-Madison. University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. Africa Focus. 2000. http://africafocus.library.wisc.edu/.
 

 
Sorghum Recipes

Ingredients

•   1 cup sorghum or pearl millet flour
• 3-4 cups water (adjusted to individual consistency preferences)
• 1 cup sour milk (water may be used instead)
• 2 tablespoon sugar

  Cooking Instructions
   

• Mix flour with ½ cup water
• Place in a covered container and leave to stand for 24-48 hours in a warm place (for non fermented porridge this step is omitted)
• Bring remaining water to boil, add the flour mixture, and stir
• Cook for 10-15 minutes until smooth and thick
• Add sour milk, stir, and boil for 1-2 minutes (commonly an extra cup of water is added in step 3 and this step is omitted)
• Sprinkle with sugar and serve hot for breakfast or lunch

  
  Source: http://www.icrisat.org/text/coolstuff/recipes/sg-pm.htm
   

Ingredients
 

• 7 kg milled sorghum malt
• 100 liters waters

  
  Cooking Instructions
   

• Mix the malt with water
• Keep at room temperature for 2-3 days, occasionally stirring
• Add sugar if desired

  
  Source: http://www.icrisat.org/text/coolstuff/recipes/sg-pm.htm
   

Ingredients
 

• 50g sorghum grain
• 5 ml cooking oil

  Cooking Directions
   

• Heat the cooking oil in a covered container (pot) until smoking hot
• Add the sorghum grain and leave to pop at low heat until all grain is popped

  
  Source: http://www.icrisat.org/text/coolstuff/recipes/sg-pm.htm

Research Links

The following links provide information on some of the projects working to increase the productivity and quality of Sorghum cultivation in the developing world.

West and Central African Sorghum Research Network

CGIAR - Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research sorghum page

National Grain Sorghum Producers - To lead the way in enhancing sorghum's competitive advantages by understanding and managing production challenges, research needs and market opportunities for  a growing sorghum industry

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. -  a DuPont company, is the world's leading developer and supplier of advanced plant genetics to farmers worldwide. sorghum  page

International Programs in Agriculture - Purdue University lead Agricultural research on millet and sorghum

ICRISAT - International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics home page.
 

 

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