Editing Pearl millet (section)

==Cultivation==
Pearl millet is well adapted to growing areas characterized by [[drought]], low soil fertility, low moisture, and high temperature. It performs well in soils with high salinity or low pH. Because of its tolerance to difficult growing conditions, it can be grown in areas where other [[cereal]] crops, such as [[maize]] or [[wheat]], would not survive. Pearl millet is a summer annual crop well-suited for double cropping and rotations. The grain and forage are valuable as food and feed resources in Africa, Russia, India and China.

Today, pearl millet is grown on over {{ Convert |260,000|km2}} of land worldwide. It accounts for about 50% of the total world production of millets.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cgiar.org/impact/research/millet.html |title=Millet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711031948/http://www.cgiar.org/impact/research/millet.html |archive-date=2007-07-11 |publisher=Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research}}</ref> 

World production of millets has been stable during the 1980s. According to FAO, {{ Convert |39.4|e6ha|abbr=off}} of millet were planted in 1987 with an average production of only {{ Convert |704|kg/ha}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1989 |title=FAO production yearbook, 1988, v. 42 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?q=FAO+production+yearbook%2C+1988%2C+v.+42 |journal=FAO Statistics Series |language=English |issn=0071-7118}}</ref>