Ragi is an extremely nutritious millet, that resembles mustard seeds in appearance. Finger millet is especially valuable as it contains the amino acid methionine, which is lacking in the diets of the poor who live on starchy staples such as cassava, plantain, polished rice or maize meal.
Ragi is another coarse grain which has high nutrition value (carbohydrate 73%, protein 9.2%) and is used as a staple food by poor people in south India. Its plant is considered as indigenous of India. In Babarnama there is a mention of using this crop for making wine.
In India, ragi is mostly grown and consumed in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Maharashtra, Kumaon region of Uttarakhand and Goa; of which, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand produce the bulk of ragi in the country. There are significant yield variations observed even among the top producing States.