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Cultivars
Four varieties of Adlay are known: C. lacryma-jobi variety (var.) lacryma-jobi, ma-yuen, puellarum, and stenocarpa. They can be distinguished based on the morphology :


 * C. lacryma-jobi variety (var.) lacryma-jobi is the wild type, which originated in the Eastern Himalayan region and Northern Indochina. The involucres are ovoid, bony and glossy. It has hard shells and is used as beads in crafts.
 * C. lacryma-jobi variety (var.) ma-yuen is the cultivated type with soft shells. The involucres are elliptical, striate and soft.
 * C. lacryma-jobi variety (var.) stenocarpa originates in Eastern India. It has cylindrical, longer than broad involucres. It is widely used as beads for ornaments.
 * C. lacryma-jobi variety (var.) puellarum is the smallest among the Indian species, with only 4mm in diameter of the seeds. It is used for ornament as well.

Production
Growth and development

It is an annual crop but it can be a perennial when allowed to develop ratoon. Adlay is propagated by seeds at the start of rain. The germination occurs as early as 7 days after sowing. It takes 5 to 5.5 months to flower and mature. The average height can reach over 90 cm at harvest. The application of N fertilizer can significantly improve the yield of adlay.

Drought is a major stress for adlay growth and development. The lack of moisture will cause impaired germination and poor establishment. During the growth and maturation stage, water deficits will reduce the leaf area index and lead to barrenness, which negatively affects photosynthesis and dry matter production.

Harvest and post-harvest operations

When nearly 80% of adlay grains turn brown, the panicle will be harvested by cutting the stems and leaving three nodes above the ground. The harvest period varies with the different varieties and local environment. Because of the uneven height and grain distribution, the use of machines for harvesting is limited and harvesting has been done by hand in many regions in Southeastern Asia. Then the harvested panicles are threshed by hand or using a treadle thresher. For manual threshing, it is normally used when the harvested grains are at lower moisture content and easily shatter. Threshed grains are sun dried or placed in drying facilities where they utilize forced warm air to gradually reduce the moisture content to 14% suited to storage before the adlay moves to the milling process. The adlay can be consumed as grains and flour after being milled through corn and rice mill. The milling recovery is about 60% depending on the cultivars.