To understand the response of millet plants to shading and to provide theoretical basis for millet planting in low-lying areas of the Loess Plateau and forest-grain intercropping models. The study used the millet variety Changsheng 13 as the experimental material to investigate its agronomic traits, yield, dry matter content, relative chlorophyll content in flag leaves, and changes in the leaf area of the top three leaves under four light intensity conditions（with shading rates of 0%, 9%, 17% and 34%）. The results revealed that ear thickness, ear weight, and yield progressively decreased as shading increased, with no significant variation observed in plant height and thousandgrain weight. At the maturity stage, the dry matter mass of individual plants and the dry matter of grain ears decreased with increasing shading, whereas the total dry matter of roots, stems, and leaves followed an inverse pattern.The relative chlorophyll content（SPAD） of millet flag leaves also decreased with the increase of shading. With the increase of shading, the leaf area of the top three leaves of millet would gradually increase. The shading treatment significantly reduced the dry matter quality of millet ears and yield which were decreased with the increase of the shading. Shading treatment would also reduce the relative chlorophyll content of millet flag leaves; and shading treatment made the area of the top three leaves of millet apex moderately larger.