''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 wid ...
millet grass belonging to the grass family (
Poaceae). It is native to
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
, 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 divers ...
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 pulla'', and ''
Atherigona punctata''
*caseworm ''
Parapoynx stagnalis''
*red hairy caterpillars ''
Amsacta albistriga'' and ''
Amsacta moorei''
References
Grasses of India
Millets
Cereals
Plants described in 1919
{{Poaceae-stub