''Brachiaria ramosa'' (L.) Stapf (browntop millet) is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

grass belonging to the grass family (

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

). It is native to

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

, where it is traditionally cultivated as a

cereal crop A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

. The reconstructed

Proto-Dravidian Proto-Dravidian is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Dravidian languages. It is thought to have differentiated into Proto-North Dravidian, Proto-Central Dravidian, and Proto-South Dravidian, although the date of diversi ...

name for ''Brachiaria ramosa'' is *conna-l.Southworth, Franklin C. 2005.
Proto-Dravidian Agriculture
'. Paper presented at the 7th ESCA Round Table Conference, Kyoto, June 2005. Other scientific names for browntop millet include ''Urochloa ramosa'' (L.) Nguyen and ''Panicum ramosum'' (L.).

Pests

Insect pests include: *shoot flies ''

Atherigona oryzae ''Atherigona oryzae'', the rice shoot fly, is a species of fly in the family Muscidae. It is found in Asia and Australia. It is known to affect rice, kodo millet ''Paspalum scrobiculatum'', commonly called Kodo millet or Koda millet,A. E. Gran ...

'', ''

Atherigona pulla ''Atherigona pulla'', the proso millet shoot fly, is a species of fly in the family Muscidae. The larvae feed on the central growing shoots of crops such as proso millet and little millet. It is found in South Asia.Ravulapenta Sathish, M Manjunat ...

'', and ''

Atherigona punctata ''Atherigona punctata'', the Coimbatore wheat stem fly, is a species of fly in the family Muscidae. In South India, it is a pest of the wheat plant, ''Triticum aestivum Common wheat (''Triticum aestivum''), also known as bread wheat, is a cu ...

'' *caseworm '' Parapoynx stagnalis'' *red hairy caterpillars ''

Amsacta albistriga ''Amsacta albistriga'', the red hairy caterpillar, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in southern India, where it has been recorded feeding on finger millet and sorghum. The wingspan is . The larvae defoliate various agricultural c ...

'' and '' Amsacta moorei''

References

Grasses of India Millets Cereals Plants described in 1919 {{Poaceae-stub