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Panicum sumatrense Roth ex Roem. and Schultz |
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Graminae P. miliare Lamk. Sava, kutki (India), little millet. An annual with erect or geniculate culms, 0.3-1 m long. Leaf-blades linear, sheath sometimes hairy. Panicle contracted, 4-15 cm long; spikelets persistent, 2-3.5 mm long; lower glume orbicular, apiculate (Bor, 1960); lower floret paleate. The caryopsis is glabrous, striated and brown. The grain is slightly larger than that of P. psilopodium. Southeast Asia, Malaysia and northern India. 2n= 36 (Fedorov, 1974). Cultivated to some extent in the poorer parts of central India. Cattle are very fond of the straw, which, in southern India, is used largely as a fodder. The crop can be grown on very poor soil (Bor, 1960). Generally grown on light red soils and on hillsides as a rain-fed crop, never irrigated. Usually propagated by drilled seed, but can be transplanted; one hand-weeding is necessary when the plants are 30 cm tall. The yield of grain is about 750850 kg/ha. The grain is cooked like rice or sometimes ground into flour and made into bread. The protein content of the grain is about 7.7 percent. The straw is used in making bricks and cement (Solomon, 1953). The green plant has potential as a quick-growing fodder which tolerates both drought and waterlogging. It grows in India up to 2 000 m elevation, where it matures in 14 weeks.Grass genera of the world: Information about botany, ecology etc. of the panicum genus; links to photographs of different species |