Soil erosion control
Finger millet tillers heavily and roots from the lower nodes, thus providing excellent protection against soil erosion (de Wet, 2006). Finger millet can be used in zero-tillage crop/livestock systems as a second rainfed crop for green chop forage, silage, grazing or as a cover crop (Landers, 2007).
Weeds
The wild form of finger millet is an aggressive colonizer that forms large continuous populations in disturbed habitats. It can invade fields of cultivated finger millet and occasionally crosses with the cereal crop, producing weedy hybrids (de Wet, 2006).