Millet Millet is a collective term for the grain of a large number of small-seeded grasses that are grown as cereal crops.
Millets grow well in arid and semi-arid environments, requiring less water than any other grain.
While developing countries in Asia still produce the majority of the world's millets, Africa is becoming the hub of production. Both are annual grasses with the highly efficient C4 photosynthetic pathway that they have in common with maize, sorghum and sugarcane. Pearl millet is a robust annual, can grow up to 4 meters in height. It has a variable number of tillers, panicle length, seed size, and color. Finger millet is a smaller grass, adapted to more humid growing conditions.