Finger millet also known as Ragi or Mandwa is the most important small millet food and fodder crop. It is extensively cultivated in Asian countries like India, Ceylon, Malaysia, China, Nepal and Japan and African countries. It is widely grown in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra and in the hilly regions of Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh. Karnataka is a major finger millet producing state in India covering about 43 per cent area of finger millet cultivation and producing nearly 49 per cent of the total food grain production (Anonymous, 2010). This crop is grown both in dryland as well as in irrigated conditions where irrigation facilities are available and it constitute only 5 per cent area of the finger millet grown in Karnataka. Whereas the rain fed finger millet is about 95 per cent and usually it is grown in Kharif and irrigated finger millet in Rabi or summer. Finger millet is often intercropped with legumes if it is grown under rain fed condition. Finger millet has outstanding properties as a subsistence food crop. Its small seeds can be stored safely for many years without insect damage, which makes it a traditional component of farmers' risk avoidance strategies in drought-prone regions of Eastern Africa and South Asia. Because the seed can be stored for decades (some say 50 years), it is highly valued as a reserve against famines. Finger millet is especially valuable as it contains the amino acid methionine, which is lacking in the diets of hundreds of millions of the poor who live on starchy staples such as cassava, plantain, polished rice, or maize meal. Finger millet can be ground and cooked into cakes, puddings or porridge. The grain is made into a fermented drink (or beer) in Nepal and in many parts of Africa. The straw from finger millet is used as animal fodder.
