Exploring the Forage Potential of Small Millets: A Sustainable Alternative Cattle Feed

With growing global demand for sustainable livestock systems and nutritious animal products, the importance of resilient and high‐quality forage crops is becoming increasingly evident. Conventional forages often fail to meet both the nutritional and climatic resilience needs of modern livestock systems. Small millets, traditionally underutilized and often classified as orphan crops, offer a promising alternative. These hardy cereals can thrive in marginal environments, require low inputs, and possess superior nutritional profiles, high calcium and iron, making them valuable for animal health and productivity. Despite their well‐established role in human nutrition, their potential as forage crops remains largely underexplored. This review highlights the suitability of small millets for forage production, especially in regions facing climatic challenges such as those in the Asia–Pacific. We emphasize their relevance to sustainable development goals (SDGs) and discuss how emerging technologies, such as omics‐driven breeding and genetic engineering, can unlock their underutilized genetic potential. Although research on small millets is less advanced than in pearl millet or sorghum, their ability to thrive in harsh conditions makes them suitable for resilient forage systems. Using small millets as forage can improve food security, promote sustainable farming, and ease pressure on conventional feed sources.