Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) is originally native to the Ethiopian highlands and was introduced into India approximately 4000 years ago. It is highly adaptable to higher elevations and is grown in the Himalaya up to 2300 m altitude.

It is the most important small millet in the tropics (12% of global millet area) and is cultivated in more than 25 countries in Africa (eastern and southern) and Asia (from Near East to Far East), predominantly as a staple food grain; The major producers are Uganda, India, Nepal, and China. Finger millet has high yield potential (>10 t/ha under optimum irrigated conditions) and grain stores very well.

Blast, caused by Pyricularia grisea (same pathogen as rice blast), is the major production constraint.

On the basis of inflorescence morphology, the species E. coracana is classified into two subspecies (africana and coracana). The subspecies africana classified into races: Africana, and Spontanea, and subspecies coracana classified into races: Elongata, Plana, Compacta, and Vulgaris. The race Elongata is divided into subraces: Laxa, Reclusa, Sparsa, race Plana is divided into subraces: Seriata, Confundere, Grandigluma, race Compacta has no subraces and race Vulgaris is divided into subraces: Liliacea, Stellata, Incurvata, and Digitata.