Plant Guide - Proso Millet Panicum Miliaceum L. - U.s. Department Of Agriculture printable pdf download

Plant Guide

Natural Resources Conservation Service

has brown to black seeds. Proso millet can be easily

PROSO MILLET

confused with young corn seedlings, fall panicum

(Panicum dichotomiflorum), and witch grass (Panicum

Panicum miliaceum L.

capillare). A distinguishing feature of the plant is that the

Plant Symbol = PAMI2

seed husk (palea and lemma) remains attached to the roots

of seedlings (Bough et al., 1986).

Distribution: It is thought that proso millet was originally

cultivated in eastern Asia, later spreading to India, Russia,

the Middle East, and Europe (Baltensperger, 1996).

Today proso millet is produced in India, China, Russia,

the Middle East (Baltensperger, 1996). In the United

States, it is mainly grown in the Great Plains states of

Nebraska, South Dakota, and Colorado, with limited

production in Kansas, Wyoming, and Minnesota. US

production has increased in the past 10 years (McDonald

et al., 2003). The weedier wild-proso millet is thought to

have escaped from domesticated varieties, and can be

found throughout the United States. For current

distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this

species on the PLANTS Web site.

Photograph of ‘Dove’ proso millet. Photo by USDA-NRCS Jimmy

Carter Plant Materials Center, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS

Habitat: Proso millet grows best in full sun, moist to dry

Database.

conditions, and can perform well in many soil types. It is

found in croplands, fallow fields, roadsides, waste sites,

Alternate Names

and disturbed soils.

Common Names: broomcorn millet, proso, wild millet,

black seeded proso millet, panic millet, broom corn, hog

Adaptation

millet, common millet

Proso millet has been grown for thousands of years in

many types of soils and in many climates. It is both heat

Scientific Names: Panicum miliaceum var. aureum Alef.;

and drought-tolerant and is widely grown in the tropics

Panicum miliaceum var. flavum Schur; Panicum

and sub-tropics. Proso millet is a C4 plant with a low

miliaceum var. sanguineum Alef.

transpiration ratio; its high water use efficiency allows it

to grow in water-limited environments (Baltensperger,

Description

1996; Lyon et al., 2008). It can be grown farther north

General: Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) is an

than other millets and is adapted to high elevation

introduced, warm-season annual grass that grows 1–3½ ft

plateaus and poor soil (Baltensperger, 1996). However,

tall. Stems are light green, erect, sometimes branched at

due to its shallow root system, it does not grow well under

the base, and grow 20–60 in (0.5–1.5 m) tall. Leaves

water stress (Baltensperger, 1996). It is not frost-tolerant

alternate along the stem and are covered with short, stiff

and does not grow well in soils with a pH greater than 7.8.

hairs. The wide-spreading or arching leaves may reach

It has poor tolerance to high salinity.

approximately 1 ft (30 cm) long, have a short ligule

(outgrowth at junction of grass leaf and blade) and no

Uses

auricles (ear-like appendage at the base of leaf)

Forage/Feed: Similar to several other millets, proso

(Baltensperger, 1996). Plants have shallow, fibrous root

millet is grown for livestock and birdseed in the United

systems and produce few tillers. Proso millet has a

States. Substituting proso millet for half the food ration

drooping, branched, compact inflorescence 4–18 in (10–

for cattle and swine is considered similar to using

45 cm) long made of many stalked, ovoid spikelets. The

sorghum or corn (Baltensperger, 1996; Lyon et al., 2008).

panicles may be spreading, loose and one-sided, or erect

Turkeys gained more weight on a diet of proso millet than

depending on the variety (McDonald et al., 2003). Proso

on corn or sorghum, however broiler chickens did not

millet reproduces by seeds, which are shiny, yellow to

significantly gain more weight (Baltensperger, 1996).

brown, smooth, oval and 0.09-0.11 in (2.4–3 mm) long.

Proso millet fed to swine and poultry should be

There is both a weedy wild-proso millet and a

supplemented with lysine (Lyon et al., 2008).

domesticated proso millet. Domestic proso millet has

yellow or light brown seeds, while the weedier wild-proso

Plant Guide - Proso Millet Panicum Miliaceum L. - U.s. Department Of Agriculture

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