Date:
15 Feb 2015
Abstract
Having found Setaria italica (foxtail millet) and Panicum miliaceum
(broomcorn millet) still being cultivated traditionally in the north of
the Iberian Peninsula, we carried out ethnographic interviews with
farmers to help us document an agricultural process on the verge of
extinction. Crop processing of S. italica and P. miliaceum varies depending on the use of either plant. In Asturias, Setaria italica is harvested while green and used as fodder. In Galicia and in the north of Portugal, P. miliaceum
grain is used mainly for human consumption. This distribution of millet
in the north of the Iberian Peninsula appears to have been the case in
prehistory too, although this will need to be confirmed by future
research.
