Varai in English and other names of barnyard millet in India

Every name below is printed by the ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research (ICAR-IIMR), in its millets information web page or in the PDF 'Nutritional and health benefits of millets'. IFCT 2017 carries no barnyard millet entry, so the table draws on those two institute lists instead, and a footnote on each name says which list it comes from. One word is missing on purpose: varai, the name this page's question starts from, is not printed by either list, so it stays out of the table and is handled in the sections below.

One line per language. Hindi: sanwa (web list) or sanwa and jhangon (PDF table). Gujarati: sama (PDF). Marathi: shamul (PDF). Punjabi: swank (both). Bengali: shyama (web) or shamula (PDF). Odia: khira (web). Kannada: oodalu (both). Telugu: udalu and kodisama (both). Tamil: kuthiraivolly (web) or kuthiravaali (PDF). Sanskrit: shyama (PDF). A dash means neither list records a name for that language; Assamese, Urdu and Malayalam sit in that group.

Source: no source found. — means no name recorded in the source.

English ‘Barnyard Millet’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, millets information page (vernacular names). Hindi ‘Sanwa’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, millets information page (vernacular names). Hindi ‘Jhangon’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Nutritional and health benefits of millets (PDF), vernacular names table. Marathi ‘Shamul’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Nutritional and health benefits of millets (PDF), vernacular names table. Gujarati ‘Sama’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Nutritional and health benefits of millets (PDF), vernacular names table. Punjabi ‘Swank’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, millets information page (vernacular names). Bengali ‘Shyama’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, millets information page (vernacular names). Bengali ‘Shamula’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Nutritional and health benefits of millets (PDF), vernacular names table. Odia ‘Khira’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, millets information page (vernacular names). Kannada ‘Oodalu’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, millets information page (vernacular names). Telugu ‘Udalu, Kodisama’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, millets information page (vernacular names). Tamil ‘Kuthiraivolly’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, millets information page (vernacular names). Tamil ‘Kuthiravaali’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Nutritional and health benefits of millets (PDF), vernacular names table. Sanskrit ‘Shyama’: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Nutritional and health benefits of millets (PDF), vernacular names table.

The English name is barnyard millet, and ICAR-IIMR opens its barnyard section with the botanical name Echinochloa crusgalli (L.) P. Beauvois. The same review says the crop is also called Japanese barnyard millet, ooda, oodalu, sawan, sanwa and sanwank, and describes it as a multi-purpose crop cultivated for food and fodder. A 2023 review in the Journal of Food Science and Technology puts the grain more broadly among the Echinochloa species and notes the flour is gluten-free.

So sanwa millet in English is barnyard millet, and sanwa rice is not rice: sanwa is the Hindi name of this millet, and the word rice on a pack points to the small rice-like grains, not to the rice family. USDA FoodData Central's 'Millet, raw' is proso millet (Panicum miliaceum), a different grain, so a search for barnyard in the American table lands on the wrong cereal.

North India: barnyard millet in Hindi and Punjabi

Hindi sanwa appears on both institute lists; the PDF table adds jhangon as a second Hindi name, and the review's barnyard section also lists sawan and sanwank among its other names. Punjabi is swank on both lists. No Assamese or Urdu name is on record, so those cells show a dash.

West India: Gujarati sama and Marathi shamul

The PDF table gives Gujarati sama; the web page leaves Gujarati blank. Marathi is shamul in the PDF and blank on the web page. The missing Marathi word matters for this query: neither list prints varai, while the institute's web page prints 'vari' as one Marathi name of little millet and the PDF gives vari for proso millet, two other grains. A pack that says varai or vari is best checked against the English name on the label.

East India: Bengali and Odia

Bengali is shyama on the web page and shamula in the PDF. Odia is khira, printed on the web page.

South India: Kannada, Telugu and Tamil

Kannada oodalu appears on both lists. Telugu is udalu and kodisama, also on both. Tamil is kuthiraivolly on the web page and kuthiravaali in the PDF, two spellings of one word. Malayalam has no name on record.

Three mix-ups cover most of the confusion around barnyard millet.

• Little millet (kutki, samai, shavan): a different species, Panicum sumatrense; IFCT 2017 lists it with its own names, Hindi shavan and English samai. ICAR-IIMR says the seeds of little millet are smaller than those of common millet. Its Hindi names are kutki and shavan, not sanwa.
• Kodo millet (varagu, harka): the Tamil name varagu sounds like varai, but kodo millet is Paspalum scrobiculatum, the grain Tamil speakers call varagu and Kannada speakers harka.
• Sama: the PDF prints sama as the Gujarati name of barnyard millet, while the web page prints sama as the Bengali name of little millet. One word, two grains in two languages, so a pack that says only sama needs its English name.

For the foxtail comparison, see barnyard millet vs foxtail millet. Cooking, benefits and storage of the sanwa grain are on the barnyard millet hub page, and the wider family is mapped in types of millets.

ICAR-IIMR groups barnyard millet with finger millet, foxtail millet, little millet and proso millet among the small millets found in most of India's southern and central states, above all where annual rainfall is below 350 mm and few other cereals cope with the moisture stress. The same review counts barnyard millet among the eight millet species commonly cultivated under rain-fed conditions in India. A 2023 review notes the crop's multiple harvests in a year and the attention it draws for its susceptibility to biotic and abiotic stresses.

What the grain offers on the plate, from its digestible protein to its fibre, is on barnyard millet benefits.

What is sanwa millet in hindi?

Sanwa millet in Hindi is sanwa itself; the Hindi name and the English term meet in the same grain, barnyard millet. The ICAR-IIMR web list prints sanwa for Hindi, its PDF table adds jhangon as a second Hindi name, and the review's barnyard section also lists sawan and sanwank among its other names. In English, sanwa millet is barnyard millet (Echinochloa species).

What is barnyard millet in gujarati?

Sama, in the ICAR-IIMR PDF's vernacular table; the institute's web page leaves the Gujarati column blank for this grain. The same word belongs to a different grain elsewhere: the web page prints sama as the Bengali name of little millet, so a pack that says sama should also carry the English name. In other languages the grain is sanwa (Hindi), oodalu (Kannada) and udalu (Telugu).

Difference between barnyard millet and little millet?

They are two species: barnyard millet is an Echinochloa and little millet is Panicum sumatrense, the grain IFCT 2017 lists as Hindi shavan and English samai. ICAR-IIMR notes little millet's seeds are smaller than common millet's; the names stay apart in most languages, though Punjabi swank serves both grains: little millet is kutki and samai, barnyard millet is sanwa, oodalu and udalu. The web page prints 'vari' among little millet's Marathi names, worth knowing when a pack says varai.

Which is barnyard millet?

It is the small millet sold as sanwa in Hindi, sama in Gujarati, oodalu in Kannada, udalu or kodisama in Telugu, kuthiraivolly in Tamil and khira in Odia. ICAR-IIMR counts it among the eight millet species commonly cultivated under rain-fed conditions in India and describes it as a multi-purpose crop grown for food and fodder, also called Japanese barnyard millet. Its flour is gluten-free, as a 2023 review notes.

What is barnyard millet?

Barnyard millet is a small millet of the Echinochloa species, the grain behind sanwa, jhangon, oodalu and udalu. A 2023 review in the Journal of Food Science and Technology describes it as rich in micronutrients, fibre and phytochemicals, and its flour as gluten-free. IFCT 2017 and the USDA tables print no composition values for it, so no per-100 g numbers are given here; the names and their sources are this page's subject.

What is sanwa millet?

Sanwa millet is barnyard millet under its Hindi name; sanwa millet in English is barnyard millet (Echinochloa crusgalli, as ICAR-IIMR prints it). Sanwa rice is the same grain, not rice: the word rice on a pack describes the small rice-like grains, not the grain family. Other names for the same seed are oodalu in Kannada, udalu in Telugu and kuthiraivolly in Tamil.