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Eleusine coracana

Common name:	Finger Millet	Family:	Gramineae
Author:	(L.)Gaertn.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	S.E. Asia. It probably arose through cultivation from E. indica.
Habitat:	Savannah and upland grassland[200].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Dragon's Claw Millet [H], Finger Millet [H], Ragi [B,P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	cana = grayed due to hairs;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Cyperales. Renamed to Poaceae -- Grass family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Ghana; India(Santal); Tanzania; Upper Volta

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.3m. It is hardy to zone 9. It is in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Wind. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in saline soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Cultivar 'Candlestick': Cultivated Beds.
Cultivar 'Dragon's Claw': Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Seed.

Seed - cooked. Used as a millet, the seed can be cooked whole or ground and used as a flour[183]. It is used in cakes, puddings, porridge etc[1, 2, 46, 171, 183]. The flour makes a very fair unleavened bread if it is first soaked overnight in water[2]. It is often used in making fermented foods[183]. Finger millet is the main food grain for many peoples, especially in dry areas of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka[269, 272]. The grain is higher in protein, fat and minerals than rice, corn, or sorghum[269]. When consumed as food it provides a sustaining diet, especially for people doing hard work[269]. The grain may also be malted and a flour of the malted grain used as a nourishing food for infants and invalids[269]. Finger millet is considered an especially wholesome food for diabetics[269]. The seed is about 2mm in diameter[2]. A nutritional analysis is available[218].
Seed yield is about 5 Tonnes per hectare[269]. Ragi grain possesses excellent storage properties and is said to improve in quality with storage. Seed can be stored without damage for as long as 50 years[269]. They are highly valued as a reserve food in times of famine. Yield depends on variety and is directly related to duration, height and tillering capacity of type grown. Types with straight spikes give better yields than those with curved spikes[269].

Composition

Seed (Dry weight): In grammes per 100g weight of food:
Water: 0 Calories: 370 Protein: 7.6 Fat: 1.5 Carbohydrate: 88 Fibre: 3 Ash: 2.7
In milligrammes per 100g weight of food:
Calcium: 410 Phosphorus: 290 Iron: 12.6 VitaminA: 0.48 Thiamine: 0.33 Riboflavin: 0.11 Niacin: 1.2 VitaminC: 0
Source: [218]
Notes : The figures given here are the median of a range given in the report.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent; Febrifuge; Tonic.

The seed is astringent, tonic and cooling[240]. It is used in the treatment of fevers, biliousness and hepatitis[218, 240].
The leaf juice has been given to women in childbirth, and the plant is reported to be diaphoretic, diuretic, and vermifuge[269]. The plant is a folk remedy for treating leprosy, liver disease, measles, pleurisy, pneumonia, and small pox[269].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, it succeeds in ordinary garden soil in a sunny position[200]. Tolerates moderately moist conditions[57]. Finger millet is reported to tolerate an annual precipitation of 29 to 429cm, an annual temperature range of 11.1 to 27.4°C and a pH in the range of 5.0 to 8.2[269]. Typically a tropical crop, one of the best suited for dry farming, generally grown rainfed. It thrives under a medium rainfall, on porous soils that do not get waterlogged. With rainfall of 53-75 cm, it is cultivated rainfed; with less, it is irrigated[269]. Finger millet is very adaptable and thrives at higher elevations than most other tropical cereals[269]. Cultivated on soils ranging from rich loams to poor shallow upland soils. In India, grown on black cotton soils, but thrives on red lateritic loams. Ragi stands salinity better than most cereals[269].
Finger millet is much cultivated in tropical countries for its edible seed[1, 2, 162]. Over 20 varieties of ragi are cultivated in India[183, 269]. The numerous races under cultivation are primarily divided into purple and green types; those with straight or open spikes, encurved or closed spikes, or branched spikes; length of earheads (5-10 cm long); colour of seeds (deep brown to shade of orange-red to almost white or black); dwarf in habit (45 cm tall) to up to 1.3 m tall; poor tillering to profuse tillering; early or late maturing; suitable for growing under irrigation to growing in dry areas. Many named cultivars are involved in breeding trials in India. Most improvement is sought in increasing yields, resistance to lodging, even maturity and loose panicle[269].
The plant requires a good summer if it is to do well in Britain[K], though in warmer climes it is heavy yielding, even on poor soils[57, 171].
Plants are seldom troubled by insect pests[61, 171]. The seed stores well[171].
Plants are mainly self-fertile[269].

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse and only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant them out in late spring after the last expected frosts[162, 200].
The seed can also be sown in mid to late spring in situ[200], though if the summer is cool it might not ripen its seed[K].

Cultivars

'Relluchodi': A hill type, it is green throughout, with long open type panicle and maturing in 115-120 days[269].
'EC 1540': A form of white ragi, the plant gives superior nutritive value, up to 14% protein, compared to pigmented types, which range from 6-11%[269].
'Dragon's Claw' 'Dragon's Claw Millet': The seeds are smaller than some millets and are difficult to thresh[183]. The plant is trouble-free and yields well, the seed are highly resistant to storage pests[183]. This is a good crop for natural agriculture enthusiasts[183]. Plants grow to 1 metre tall, maturing their crop in 130 days from sowing[183]. The stalks are stiff and resistant to lodging[183].
'Candlestick' 'Candlestick Millet': The heads are borne on tall stalks and are shaped like candlesticks[183]. The plants tiller heavily[183].
'AKP-2': This fast-growing form is green throughout, with incurved panicle, maturing in 85-90 days[269].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[FAO] Data (Description, Habitat, Location and Use) from the FAO's Grassland Index.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HEC] Use, Folk Medicine, etc. from Handbook of Energy Crops by James Duke
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[162] Grounds. R. Ornamental Grasses. Christopher Helm 1989 ISBN 0-7470-1219-9
Cultivation details of many of the grasses and bamboos. Well illustrated.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[269] Duke. J. Handbook of Energy Crops - 1983
Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of plants.

Readers Comments

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