• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
• India declared 2018 as the National Year of Millets.
• Millets are growing in popularity across the globe because of their high nutritional values.

Millets 

• Millets are some of the earliest cultivated grains, dating back to the prehistoric age.
• Milles are mentioned in some of the oldest Indian texts.
• In Yajur Veda, they are identified as ‘priyangava’ or foxtail millet, ‘aanava’ or barnyard millet, and ‘shyaamaka’ or black finger millet. 
• Millets have special nutritive properties and special agronomic characteristics (drought-resistant and suitable for semi-arid regions).
• Every millet’s variety contains nutrients, including calcium, carbohydrates, iron, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus.
• They contain vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin B6, β- Carotene, and niacin in abundance.
• Often referred to as ‘nutri-grains’.
• Millets currently being cultivated in India that are categorised into two categories:
• Major Millets: ‘Bajra’/Pearl millet, ‘Ragi’/Finger millet, Sorghum millet
• Minor Millets: Ramdana’/Amaranth, ‘Kuttu’/Buckwheat millet, ‘Sanwa’/Barnyard millet, ‘Kangni’/Foxtail millet, and ‘Kodon’/Kodo millet.

India in millet production

• 60 years ago, millets comprised up to 40% of the cultivated grain in India, more than rice and wheat.
• India is the largest producer of millet in the world.
• (sub-point) India produces 15 million MT of millet annually.
• Rajasthan has the highest area under millets cultivation (31.3%)
• India is the second-largest exporter of millet.
• In last 25 years, there is decline in the area under cultivation of minor millets and finger millet at the block level.
• However, it has increased gradually after 2014-15, although the acreage is still one-third of acreage in the early 2000s.
• This increase is due to improved seeds, agronomic practices and intercropping.

Need of millets

• 71% of the Indian population cannot afford a nutritious diet.
• Millets can be the perfect solution for a nutritious diet
• Millets can grow on less fertile soil with minimal inputs.
• Millets have hard nature and the ability to grow in rain-fed lands,
• As against the requirement of 5,000 liters of water to grow one kilogram of rice, millets need hardly 250-300 liters.
• They can be mix-cultivated along with pulses and vegetables.

Challenges of millet production in India

• Low productivity of millets
• In 2016-17, the area under millets stood at 14.72 million hectares, down from 37 million ha in 1965-66, before the pre-Green Revolution era.
• Decline in the area under millet cultivation.
• Due to low yield, area under nutri-cereals declined since the mid-1980s: from 41 million hectares in the 1980s to 24 million hectares in 2017-18.
• Processing of millets is a time-consuming and laborious task, mainly undertaken by women.
• Millets selling prices are very low in the APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) mandis
• Unavailability of good-quality millet seeds
• Lack of appropriate processing technologies that yield stable shelf products
• Millet value-added products have low shelf-life
• Different processing facilities are needed for different millets
• Farmers do not have different facilities.
• Absence of proper grades and standards
• Social stigma on millets that they are Poor Man’s Food
• Millet-based products are not covered under standard foods
• Absence of market intelligence on millets to analyze the export competitiveness of millets, and price volatility of domestic and international markets
• Procured in only a few States, and stocks in the central pool are small.
• In 2022, central stocks had 33 million tonnes of rice and 31 million tonnes of wheat, but only four lakh tonnes of Nutri cereals.
• Due to less production in millets, the inclusion of millets in the PDS (Public Distribution System) is difficult.
• It would be feasible only if more than 50% of total millet production were procured for PDS, which is nearly impossible.
• The production of sorghum (4.8 million tonnes), pearl millet (10.4 million tonnes), and finger millet along with other millets (3.7 million tonnes) put together was 18.9 million tonnes.

Looking ahead

• Promote the production of more millets by providing price support to farmers
• Put efforts to bring millets cultivation under irrigated condition
• Expected demand for millets around 40-50 Billion tonnes in 2050.
• Building up seed hubs for increasing the quality of seed capacity and production.
• The usage of good quality seed can increase production at least by 20 %.
• Incentivizing millet cultivation to increase the area under millets
• Karnataka Model can be replicated where under the “The Food of the Future” initiative farmers were given ₹ 10000/ ha incentive to for cultivation of millets
• Millets should be incorporated into the public distribution program at a nominal price.
• The provision of MSP (Minimum support price) for minor millets should be considered
• Currently, MSP covers only major millets (Sorghum, Bajra, Ragi)
• Biofortified millets can be made available for the consumption of resource-poor farm households
• Introducing the nutrition benefits of millets in the course curriculum of school education
• Organize awareness creation programs such as advertising in print media, electronic media (TV Channels, Radio), social media
• Incentivizing the processing and export of millet products for encouraging the big private companies
• Introduce customised post-harvest machinery to replace the hand-pounding of millet that takes too much time.
• Increasing the production of millets and reversing the decline in millet area require multiple interventions including scientific inputs, institutional mechanisms, financial incentives and in-kind support.
• Government of India and State governments (such Karnataka and Odisha), have initiated Millet Missions.
• However, the issue of the economics of millet cultivation should be incorporated into these missions.

Millets have the potential to assume significance not only for food security but also for nutritional security in India. Historically, millet has been marginalized both in policy and priorities of agriculture and nutrition in India. With the millet’s revolution in India, they could be the potential new tools for the government to fight socio-economic issues such as malnutrition and rural poverty while addressing sustainability concerns.