Little millet belongs to the family Poaceae, sub-family Panicoideae, tribe Paniceae, Genus Panicum Species Panicum sumatrense. Little millet (Panicum sumatrense Roth. Ex. Roemer and Schultes) is grown in India under various agro ecological situations. The time to maturity for most cultivars is about 90 days. Little millet is grown throughout India up to altitudes of 2100 m, but it has only a little importance in different places. Little millet is a tetraploid with 2n = 4x = 36. Little millet matures quickly and withstands both drought and water logging. Less genetic diversity occurs in the world collections of this species than appears among the other species and the grains are similar to that of rice. Any recipe made with staple rice can be prepared using little millets with similar taste. Perhaps very little of this species is grown outside of India. Little millet is commonly available across the country as a whole grain. Millet flour can be procured from certain sources or more commonly could be made at home. Practically devoid of grain storage pests, the little millets have indefinite storage life. Little millet has a significant role in providing nutraceutical components such as phenols, tannins and phytates along with other nutrients. Little millet is cooked like rice. Sometimes the millet is also milled and baked. The protein content of the grain is 7.7%. The English names for little millet are Indian millet, Tribal millet and small millet. Little millet is reported to be predominantly grown in the eastern parts of India, where it forms part of tribal agriculture. Little millet is known for the highest content of crude fibre in its grains. Little millet is one of the small millets commonly known as ‘kutki’ in Hindi, ‘samai’ in Tamil, ‘same’ in Kannada and ‘samalu’ in Telugu. As these millets are smaller in size, they cook faster than rice and other millets. Little millets could be milled into flour for making roti, baked and fried items.The whole grains can be sprouted and used in salads. Dosa, upma, kichidi, tomato rice, lemon rice, curd rice, porridge, chakli, payasam, halwa and kesari are few traditional recipes prepared in different millet growing states in India. Little millet is native to India and is also called Indian millet. It is mainly grown in the Caucasus, China, East Asia, India, and Malaysia. Little millets are nutritious, healthy and versatile with similar comparison to other cereals and can be a worthy addition to diet. Little millet based value added products could enhance the income, empowers millet farmers and nutrition in rural India. The dehusked grain of little millets is cooked like rice and eaten. In parts of South India, the grain is processed very similar to the parboiling of rice. Often, roti and porridge are made and consumed. It is also made into flour, used for making puddings or cakes. In India, little millet growing states are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Gujarat. In Gujarat, generally little millet crop is grown in hilly tract of The Dangs and Valsad district and locally known as “Vari or Moraio”. Little millet is a hardy crop which can withstand drought better than most of other cereal crops and water logging to a certain degree, also. The potentiality of little millet has not been exploited in India and the yield levels are very low there by indicating a greater scope for exploitation of this millet under Indian condition. Mutation breeding was used as one of the strategy in addition to conventional breeding methods for genetic improvement of little millet. Mutation breeding was used as complement approach to conventional breeding methods for genetic improvement of little millet. In this review article on Origin, Domestication, Taxonomy, Botanical Description, Genetics and Cytogenetics, Genetic Diversity, Breeding, Uses, Nutritional Value and Health Benefits of Little Millet are discussed.
