SCOTTSBLUFF, Nebraska (AP) — A cereal grain native to Ethiopia could someday be grown in Nebraska and sold back to the African nation.

But experts must first answer questions about growing and marketing the grain, which is called teff.

Dr. Tareke Berhe is an Ethiopian who earned his doctorate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He says Ethiopia can’t grow enough teff to feed its own citizens.

Several years ago the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Panhandle Research and Extension Center at Scottsbluff conducted field trials.

Berhe says yields are low, but he also says that could be corrected through plant breeding and planting at a lower density.

Teff has no gluten, so it could be used in products for people whose bodies can’t tolerate gluten.

On the Net: Panhandle Research and Extension Center: http://www.panhandle.unl.edu