Nutritive value of the seeds of Panicum miliare (little millet).

The seeds of panicum miliare (English-little
millet; Kannada-Save; Tamil-Samai, Telugu
-Samalu; Hindustani-Shevan) are of some
importance in certain regions of Madras,
Hyderabad and Mysore States. It is a short
duration crop which thrives even in areas of low
rainfall and on poor soil. The yield of the grain
is about 500 lb. per acre on an average but in
good seasons it may go up to Soo lb. (5). The
grain is usually husked and the husked grain is
either cooked in the same way as rice or is
ground and made into pudding or cakes.
The chemical composition of a sample of little
millet has been reported by Ranganathan, et al. (z).
Apart from this the nutritive value of the grain has
not so far been studied by animal feeding experiments.
In the present note, studies on the nutritive
value of little millet as compared with wheat are
reported.