MILLET AND SORGHUM | Facts and Details

MILLET

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millet in Mali Millet is a hard cereal that resembles a cat tail with wheat-like stalks growing out of it. Although virtually unknown in North America and western Europe, this tiny, round yellowish grain is eaten by millions of people, many of them very poor, in semiarid regions of tropical Africa and Asia.

The earliest identified crops in China were two drought-resistant species of millet in the north and rice in the south. Domesticated millet was produced in China by 6000 B.C. Most ancient Chinese ate millet before they ate rice. Millet's small seeds can be ground into meal or flour or eaten as whole grain. Because it isn't glutinous, millet flour does not rise and can be made only into a flat, or pan, bread. And, due to millet’s inability to grow in the winter, it was not able to compete with barley and wheat to become a principal in certain regions of the Mediterranean. The Romans used millet to produce a kind of mix porridge.

Millet is rich in carbohydrates, protein, fat, the B Vitamins: thiamin, riboflavin, and minerals and contains all of the essential amino acids. Because of its ability to increase in volume during cooking, millet is a great old grain to have around the kitchen. In America millet has been adapted to produce a variety of staple foods namely, flour, syrup and bread and secondary products such as alcoholic beverages, fuel and paper. Millet is also used in feeding livestock, poultry and wild birds.

Millet Agriculture

Millet grows in a wide range of climates and soils and comes in many varieties. It needs less sun and water than rice and grows well in mountains and semi-deserts where other crops have difficulty growing. Millet was once grown in western Europe, where it was known as the "poor man's cereal." But over time it has been replaced by rye and wheat. It is still raised in Eastern Europe, where it is used for making bread, porridge and beer.

Millet favours uphill locations, doesn’t require much water, and has a short growing season: it can be harvested 45 days after planting, compared with 100 days for rice, allowing a very mobile form of cultivation. Researchers say that millet can be made resistant to drought and salt; the nutritional value of its food volume can be boosted; and it can be made resistant to diseases and bacteria through bioengineering. Like sorghum and cassava, unfortunately, it receives little attention from agricultural biotechnology giants like Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred International because there is little profit in it for them.

Millet is important in Africa, the Far East and India since the bulk of their food consumption is from grain. North Africa, the East Indies and Canada are just a few of the regions that grow millet. A dry hot climate and an arid soil were important if the cultivation of millet was to reach its fullest potential. The U.S. grows millet, but summer heat in most places is not strong enough to to bring the grain to its full potential.

World’s Main Millet Producing Countries

World’s Top Producers of Millet (2020): 1) India: 12490000 tonnes; 2) Niger: 3508903 tonnes; 3) China: 2300000 tonnes; 4) Nigeria: 2000000 tonnes; 5) Mali: 1921171 tonnes; 6) Ethiopia: 1218582 tonnes; 7) Senegal: 1144855 tonnes; 8) Burkina Faso: 957000 tonnes; 9) Chad: 686584 tonnes; 10) Sudan: 484960 tonnes; 11) Russia: 396458 tonnes; 12) Tanzania: 325000 tonnes; 13) Nepal: 320953 tonnes; 14) Pakistan: 266076 tonnes; 15) Ukraine: 256050 tonnes; 16) Guinea: 213420 tonnes; 17) Uganda: 209671 tonnes; 18) United States: 208880 tonnes; 19) Ghana: 170000 tonnes; 20) Kenya: 153000 tonnes ; [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org. A tonne (or metric ton) is a metric unit of mass equivalent to 1,000 kilograms (kgs) or 2,204.6 pounds (lbs). A ton is an imperial unit of mass equivalent to 1,016.047 kg or 2,240 lbs.]

World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Millet (2019): 1) India: Int.$3071736,000 ; 2) Niger: Int.$981451,000 ; 3) China: Int.$690222,000 ; 4) Nigeria: Int.$600193,000 ; 5) Mali: Int.$563739,000 ; 6) Sudan: Int.$340009,000 ; 7) Ethiopia: Int.$337896,000 ; 8) Burkina Faso: Int.$291146,000 ; 9) Senegal: Int.$242191,000 ; 10) Chad: Int.$215356,000 ; 11) Russia: Int.$131974,000 ; 12) Tanzania: Int.$115826,000 ; 13) Pakistan: Int.$115350,000 ; 14) United States: Int.$113034,000 ; 15) Nepal: Int.$94298,000 ; 16) Uganda: Int.$72955,000 ; 17) Guinea: Int.$66988,000 ; 18) Ghana: Int.$57018,000 ; 19) Ukraine: Int.$50935,000 ; [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]

Top millet-producing countries in 20008: (first, Production, $1000; second, Production, metric tons, FAO): 1) India, 1841508 , 11340000; 2) Nigeria, 1300298 , 9064000; 3) Niger, 506067 , 3489400; 4) Burkina Faso, 209988 , 1255189; 5) Mali, 209165 , 1413908; 6) Sudan, 118674 , 721000; 7) Uganda, 118197 , 783000; 8) China, 114384 , 1551000; 9) Senegal, 107953 , 678171; 10) Chad, 85028 , 523162; 11) Ethiopia, 81204 , 484409; 12) Russian Federation, 56099 , 711010; 13) Nepal, 48782 , 291098; 14) United Republic of Tanzania, 35917 , 219000; 15) Ghana, 32733 , 193840; 16) Myanmar, 24621 , 166000; 17) Pakistan, 24295 , 296400; 18) Gambia, 19913 , 125624; 19) Ukraine, 14957 , 220700; 20) Guinea, 12464 , 323000;

World’s Main Exporting and Importing Countries of Millet

Top millet-producing countries World’s Top Exporters of Millet (2020): 1) Ukraine: 116395 tonnes; 2) United States: 100158 tonnes; 3) India: 76481 tonnes; 4) Russia: 42962 tonnes; 5) France: 25317 tonnes; 6) Tanzania: 17469 tonnes; 7) Turkey: 14159 tonnes; 8) Pakistan: 12377 tonnes; 9) Myanmar: 12117 tonnes; 10) Netherlands: 9369 tonnes; 11) Uzbekistan: 8780 tonnes; 12) Austria: 7453 tonnes; 13) Burkina Faso: 6960 tonnes; 14) Canada: 6402 tonnes; 15) Egypt: 5421 tonnes; 16) Poland: 5391 tonnes; 17) China: 5302 tonnes; 18) Germany: 3890 tonnes; 19) Australia: 3870 tonnes; 20) Mali: 3472 tonnes ; [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Millet (2020): 1) United States: US$46143,000; 2) Ukraine: US$29375,000; 3) India: US$24956,000; 4) France: US$11236,000; 5) Russia: US$11049,000; 6) Netherlands: US$7038,000; 7) China: US$6446,000; 8) Austria: US$5850,000; 9) Uzbekistan: US$5172,000; 10) Myanmar: US$4291,000; 11) Turkey: US$4268,000; 12) Germany: US$3308,000; 13) Tanzania: US$3270,000; 14) Pakistan: US$3018,000; 15) Canada: US$2947,000; 16) Belgium: US$2855,000; 17) Poland: US$2759,000; 18) Australia: US$2630,000; 19) Czechia: US$2023,000; 20) Argentina: US$1214,000

World’s Top Importers of Millet (2020): 1) Indonesia: 75546 tonnes; 2) Belgium: 28679 tonnes; 3) Germany: 28023 tonnes; 4) United Kingdom: 25536 tonnes; 5) Turkey: 24759 tonnes; 6) Netherlands: 18587 tonnes; 7) Iraq: 18583 tonnes; 8) Nepal: 18350 tonnes; 9) United Arab Emirates: 18082 tonnes; 10) Canada: 16322 tonnes; 11) South Korea: 13726 tonnes; 12) Italy: 12803 tonnes; 13) Spain: 12629 tonnes; 14) Poland: 9530 tonnes; 15) Japan: 9464 tonnes; 16) Kenya: 9442 tonnes; 17) Malaysia: 8251 tonnes; 18) South Africa: 8111 tonnes; 19) Burundi: 8045 tonnes; 20) Iran: 8000 tonnes ; [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Millet (2020): 1) Indonesia: US$34200,000; 2) Germany: US$15407,000; 3) Belgium: US$13778,000; 4) United Kingdom: US$11470,000; 5) South Korea: US$10915,000; 6) Canada: US$9705,000; 7) Netherlands: US$9387,000; 8) Japan: US$6767,000; 9) Italy: US$6451,000; 10) Turkey: US$6063,000; 11) Iraq: US$6015,000; 12) Nepal: US$5618,000; 13) United Arab Emirates: US$5263,000; 14) Spain: US$4794,000; 15) Malaysia: US$4424,000; 16) France: US$4383,000; 17) Kenya: US$3786,000; 18) United States: US$3715,000; 19) Thailand: US$3453,000; 20) Australia: US$3330,000

Sorghum

sorghum harvest Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a versatile grass originating from Africa. A close relative of millet and used for thousands of years by prehistoric peoples, it is a purplish red grain that grow at the top of a corn-like plant. It requires relatively little water and grows well in mountainous and semi-desert areas. It provides human food, feed grain, molasses, pasturage and broom straw. Sorghum is regarded as one of the world’s five most important cereal crops, along with rice, wheat, barley, and maize.

Sorghum is grown in 66 countries. It is the leading cereal grain in Africa and is an important food source in Asia and the Middle East. It is used to make unleavened bread, boiled into porridge or gruel, or processed into malted beverages and specialty foods such as popped grain and beer. The United States is the world’s leading producer. Most of sorghum produced there and in Latin America is used as livestock feed.

Sorghum is sometimes called milo. As is true with oats and rice, sorghum seeds are contained in branching heads called panicles. There are approximately 750 to 1,250 seeds in one sorghum grain head. Sorghum such as kafir and durra are sometimes classified as varieties of millet.

Sorghum is a gluten-free grain. The U.S. produces about 10 million metric tons of it a year. The majority of it used for animal feed and ethanol production. Researchers say that sorghum can be made resistant to drought and salt; the nutritional value of its food volume can be boosted; and it can be made resistant to diseases and bacteria through bioengineering. Like millet and cassava, unfortunately, it receives little attention from agricultural biotechnology giants like Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred International because there is little profit in it for them.

World’s Main Sorghum Producing Countries

World’s Top Producers of Sorghum (2020): 1) United States: 9473620 tonnes; 2) Nigeria: 6362000 tonnes; 3) Ethiopia: 5058043 tonnes; 4) India: 4770000 tonnes; 5) Mexico: 4704111 tonnes; 6) China: 3550000 tonnes; 7) Brazil: 2769254 tonnes; 8) Sudan: 2537957 tonnes; 9) Niger: 2132295 tonnes; 10) Burkina Faso: 1840000 tonnes; 11) Argentina: 1829914 tonnes; 12) Mali: 1822694 tonnes; 13) Cameroon: 1215377 tonnes; 14) Bolivia: 1018885 tonnes; 15) Chad: 970242 tonnes; 16) Tanzania: 750000 tonnes; 17) South Sudan: 737000 tonnes; 18) Egypt: 730761 tonnes; 19) France: 527070 tonnes; 20) Australia: 397485 tonnes ; [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org. A tonne (or metric ton) is a metric unit of mass equivalent to 1,000 kilograms (kgs) or 2,204.6 pounds (lbs). A ton is an imperial unit of mass equivalent to 1,016.047 kg or 2,240 lbs.]

World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Sorghum (2019): 1) United States: Int.$1884150,000 ; 2) Nigeria: Int.$1447845,000 ; 3) Ethiopia: Int.$1143848,000 ; 4) Mexico: Int.$945596,000 ; 5) Sudan: Int.$806796,000 ; 6) China: Int.$782032,000 ; 7) India: Int.$754967,000 ; 8) Brazil: Int.$580495,000 ; 9) Niger: Int.$412009,000 ; 10) Burkina Faso: Int.$406611,000 ; 11) Argentina: Int.$347882,000 ; 12) Mali: Int.$328260,000 ; 13) Cameroon: Int.$264354,000 ; 14) Australia: Int.$252092,000 ; 15) Chad: Int.$211261,000 ; 16) Bolivia: Int.$206161,000 ; 17) Egypt: Int.$172057,000 ; 18) Tanzania: Int.$158986,000 ; 19) South Sudan: Int.$154234,000 ; [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]

Top sorghum-producing countries in 2008: (first Production, $1000; second, Production, metric tons, FAO): 1) Nigeria, 947613 , 9318000; 2) India, 926989 , 7925900; 3) United States of America, 872380 , 11998040; 4) Sudan, 440261 , 3869000; 5) Ethiopia, 278592 , 2316041; 6) Burkina Faso, 224560 , 1875046; 7) Argentina, 162997 , 2936840; 8) Niger, 136490 , 1311100; 9) China, 132628 , 2502532; 10) Mali, 108784 , 1027202; 11) United Republic of Tanzania, 105947 , 900000; 12) Chad, 80252 , 685430; 13) Cameroon, 70754 , 600000; 14) Uganda, 50219 , 477000; 15) Yemen, 44759 , 376728; 16) Ghana, 40046 , 330950; 17) Eritrea, 36213 , 302515; 18) Egypt, 35700 , 866948; 19) Saudi Arabia, 30430 , 252000; 20) Senegal, 29802 , 251515;

World’s Main Sorghum Exporting and Importing Countries

Top sorghum-producing countries World’s Top Exporters of Sorghum (2020): 1) United States: 6586580 tonnes; 2) Argentina: 462100 tonnes; 3) Australia: 180791 tonnes; 4) France: 167158 tonnes; 5) Ukraine: 118871 tonnes; 6) Kenya: 77208 tonnes; 7) Hungary: 61708 tonnes; 8) Burkina Faso: 41853 tonnes; 9) India: 36617 tonnes; 10) Uganda: 26847 tonnes; 11) China: 21209 tonnes; 12) Russia: 17951 tonnes; 13) Bolivia: 12275 tonnes; 14) Republic of Moldova: 11679 tonnes; 15) Tanzania: 11350 tonnes; 16) Brazil: 11111 tonnes; 17) Paraguay: 7465 tonnes; 18) South Africa: 7203 tonnes; 19) Romania: 6391 tonnes; 20) United Arab Emirates: 4805 tonnes ; [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Sorghum (2020): 1) United States: US$1392917,000; 2) Argentina: US$84653,000; 3) Australia: US$49561,000; 4) France: US$39187,000; 5) Kenya: US$27246,000; 6) Ukraine: US$20889,000; 7) India: US$16467,000; 8) Uganda: US$12439,000; 9) Hungary: US$11601,000; 10) China: US$9435,000; 11) Bolivia: US$4723,000; 12) Tanzania: US$4161,000; 13) Russia: US$4012,000; 14) Burkina Faso: US$3675,000; 15) South Africa: US$3376,000; 16) Brazil: US$3312,000; 17) Republic of Moldova: US$2492,000; 18) Spain: US$2442,000; 19) Italy: US$1886,000; 20) Romania: US$1274,000

World’s Top Exporters of Sorghum Bran (2020): 1) Afghanistan: 122 tonnes; 2) Philippines: 11 tonnes; 3) Pakistan: 5 tonnes ; [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Sorghum Bran (2020): 1) Afghanistan: 139,000; 2) Pakistan: 19,000; 3) Philippines: 15,000 US$ ; [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Importers of Sorghum (2020): 1) China: 4813474 tonnes; 2) Japan: 382269 tonnes; 3) Mexico: 327825 tonnes; 4) South Sudan: 132551 tonnes; 5) Spain: 125316 tonnes; 6) Ethiopia: 110779 tonnes; 7) Italy: 87110 tonnes; 8) Sudan: 81407 tonnes; 9) Eritrea: 63602 tonnes; 10) Kenya: 58525 tonnes; 11) Somalia: 46820 tonnes; 12) Zimbabwe: 45972 tonnes; 13) Philippines: 44219 tonnes; 14) Belgium: 38519 tonnes; 15) Taiwan: 35578 tonnes; 16) New Zealand: 35166 tonnes; 17) Israel: 34058 tonnes; 18) Rwanda: 33000 tonnes; 19) Djibouti: 30000 tonnes; 20) United Kingdom: 26176 tonnes ; [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Sorghum (2020): 1) China: US$1156072,000; 2) Japan: US$85358,000; 3) Ethiopia: US$77672,000; 4) Mexico: US$72658,000; 5) South Sudan: US$43293,000; 6) Spain: US$25699,000; 7) Italy: US$19955,000; 8) Sudan: US$19706,000; 9) Kenya: US$19337,000; 10) Philippines: US$17151,000; 11) Zimbabwe: US$17024,000; 12) Eritrea: US$16793,000; 13) United Kingdom: US$14203,000; 14) Taiwan: US$12260,000; 15) Belgium: US$9713,000; 16) Bolivia: US$9644,000; 17) Somalia: US$9398,000; 18) New Zealand: US$8531,000; 19) Chad: US$7500,000; 20) Cameroon: US$7322,000

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Natural History magazine, Discover magazine, Times of London, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated March 2022