MILLET CULTIVATION – AGRICULTURE
News: Using millets grown by small farmers akin to serving country: PM Modi tells BJP MPs
What's in the news?
● Prime Minister Narendra Modi extolled the virtues of millets and sports in improving the health of citizens to BJP MPs on a day when the Government also hosted lunch for all Members of Parliament with a menu exclusively comprising dishes made with millets.
Key takeaways:
● Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi, briefing the media after the meetings, said the Prime Minister told BJP MPs that, “making millets, grown by most small farmers in the country, popular, amounts to serving the country".
● Mr. Modi noted that the United Nations had declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets on his Government’s request as he had called for making the bouquet of grains high on nutrition a popular choice of food for people.
● With tens of thousands of foreign delegates expected to attend a large number of meetings associated with the G-20, now being chaired by India, Mr. Modi said millets will be on the menu, and said they can be used in anganwadis, schools, homes and government meetings as well.
● He urged MPs to use millet items in the meetings they host.
● As over 85% of Indian farmers falling in the category of small farmers grow millets in large numbers, a rise in the consumption of these grains will help them financially.
Millets - India’s indigenous foodgrains:
● The term millet is used to describe small-grained cereals like sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), foxtail millet (kangni/ Italian millet), little millet (kutki), kodo millet, finger millet (ragi/ mandua), proso millet (cheena/ common millet), barnyard millet (sawa/ sanwa/ jhangora), and brown top millet (korale).
● Millets were among the first crops to be domesticated. There is evidence for consumption of millets in the Indus-Saraswati civilisation (3,300 to 1300 BCE).
● Several varieties that are now grown around the world were first cultivated in India.
● West Africa, China, and Japan are also home to indigenous varieties of the crop.
Present status of Millets:
● Millets are now grown in more than 130 countries, and are the traditional food for more than half a billion people in Asia and Africa. Globally, sorghum (jowar) is the biggest millet crop.
● The major producers of jowar are the United States, China, Australia, India, Argentina, Nigeria, and Sudan. Bajra is another major millet crop, India and some African countries are major producers.
India and Millet Production:
Jowar:
● Jowar is mainly grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh. In 2020-21, the area under jowar stood at 4.24 million hectares, while production was 4.78 million tonnes.
● Maharashtra accounted for the largest area (1.94 mn ha) and production (1.76 million tonnes) of jowar during 2020-21.
Bajra:
● Bajra is mainly grown in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
● Of the total 7.75 mn ha under bajra in 2020-21, the highest (4.32 mn ha) was in Rajasthan. The state also produced the most bajra in the country (4.53 million tonnes of the total 10.86 million tonnes) in 2020-21.
Consumption Pattern:
● The consumption of millets was reported mainly from these states: Gujarat (jowar and bajra), Karnataka (jowar and ragi), Maharashtra (jowar and bajra), Rajasthan (bajra), and Uttarakhand (ragi).
Millet Cultivation and Sustainability in Agriculture:
1. Sustainable:
● Millet production is a viable solution to increase the food security and nutritional security and sustainable agriculture.
● Millets, which fell out of fashion a few decades ago have received renewed attention as crops that are good for nutrition, health, and the planet.
● Additionally, their genetic diversity ensures that agrobiodiversity is preserved.
2. Climate smart:
● Millets are climate-smart crops that are drought-resistant, growing in areas with low rain and infertile soil.
● They are hardier than other cereals, more resilient to changes in climate, and require less water to cultivate (as much as 70% less than rice), and less energy to process (around 40% less than wheat).
● Since they need fewer inputs, they are less extractive for the soil and can revive soil health.
● They can withstand higher temperatures, making them the perfect choice as ‘climate-smart cereals.
3. India's effort:
● India has led the global conversation on reviving millet production for better lives, nutrition, and the environment, including at the United Nations General Assembly, where it appealed to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
● India is the world’s leading producer of millets, producing around 41% of total production in 2020.
4. Health outcomes:
● Millets can also help in tackling health challenges such as obesity, diabetes and lifestyle problems as they are gluten-free, have a low glycemic index and are high in dietary fibre and antioxidants.
● Millets are nutri-cereals that are highly nutritious and known to have high nutrient content which includes protein, essential fatty acids, dietary fibre, B-Vitamins and minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, potassium and magnesium.
● It can provide nutritional security and protect against nutritional deficiency, especially among children and women.
○ On April 10, 2018, the Agriculture Ministry declared certain varieties of millets as “Nutri Cereals” for the purposes of production, consumption, and trade.
5. Green water footprint:
● It will also be critical for climate change measures in drylands and important for smallholder and marginal farmers.
● Millets are eco-friendly crops as they require much less water than rice and wheat, and can be grown in rainfed areas without additional irrigation.
○ According to a 2019 study, “wheat and rice have the lowest green water footprints but the highest blue water footprints, while millets were exactly opposite.”
○ Green water footprint refers to water from precipitation whereas blue water refers to water from land sources. Thus, millets require the least amount of irrigation to be grown.
6. Profitability:
● Millets offer farmers a stable source of income as they are drought-resistant and less susceptible to failure due to weather-related events.
● Millet production requires a low initial capital investment.
● The global Millets market was valued at US$ 9.95 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach US$ 14.14 Billion in 2028, growing at a CAGR of 5% from 2021 to 2028.
7. SDG:
● Millets have the potential to help achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs), mainly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
● Millets can be helpful in reducing gender nutrition gaps and inequalities.
Concerns:
1. Mono-cropping:
● The Green Revolution has altered the cropping pattern to wheat-paddy cycle.
● The area under Millet cultivation was reduced from 37 million hectares in pre-Green Revolution period to ~14 million hectares.
● Millets have become a predominantly fodder crop from staple diets earlier.
2. Inconsistent Supply and Demand:
● According to the NSSO household consumption expenditure survey less than 10% of rural and urban households reported consumption of millets. It is not the first choice of either consumers or farmers.
● The Millets Mission has led to the inclusion of grain in the public distribution system, however the quotas are small.
● The lack of access to HYV seeds has led to low crop productivity, the lack of public awareness about nutritional benefits of millets has led to limited adoption of millets.
● In addition, limited distribution and lack of market knowledge have resulted in sub-optimal reach, lower price realization and wastage.
3. Processing Issues:
● Some millets require multiple processing for optimization of grain recovery and optimization of polishing to retain their nutrition value.
● Processing of millets face several hurdles owing to variation in size of various millet types and low shelf life of the processed millets. The grains vary in terms of shape, nature of grain surface, hardness, husk-grain bonding etc.;
● Lack of processing units make it difficult to bring cultivated millets to the consumption market.
4. Low Shelf Life:
● Processed Millets (like millet flour) have poor shelf life due to its intrinsic enzyme activity (lipase activity, lipid oxidation etc.) that causes rapid development of rancidity and bitterness.
● Millet products are also prone to moisture and water activity.
● Quality assurance thus greatly depends on different pre-treatments and storage conditions.
5. Ease of Consumption:
● Wheat has gluten proteins that swell and form networks on adding water to the flour, making the dough more cohesive and elastic.
● The resultant chapattis come out soft, which isn’t possible with millets (hard) that are gluten-free.
6. Options in PDS:
● For the rural poor, rice and wheat were aspirational foods. An expanded PDS has provided them access to these Fine grains, which is distinguished from coarse grains.
Initiatives to improve the millets production:
● In 2018, The Union Agriculture Ministry, declared millets as ‘Nutri-Cereals’, considering their ‘high nutritive value’ and also ‘anti-diabetic properties’.
● Sub-Mission on Nutri-Cereals (Millets) as part of the National Food Security Mission.
○ The Centre’s Millet Mission will focus on developing farm-gate processing and empowering farmers through collectives while focusing on value-addition and aggregation of the produce.
● The ‘One District One Product’ (ODOP) initiative has identified 27 millet focus districts.
● State-level missions in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh are a testament to India’s resolve to revive these indigenous crops because they represent an opportunity to guarantee food and nutrition security to millions while protecting the earth.
○ The Odisha Government’s 5-year ‘Millet Mission’ is supplementing the input as well as marketing needs of indigenous small and marginal farmers like the Dongria Kondhs across the state to grow millets.
● Tejaswini programme:
○ Millet production has been proven to enhance biodiversity and increase yields for smallholder farmers, including rural women.
○ For example, the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD’s) Tejaswini programme with the Government of Madhya Pradesh showed that growing millets meant a nearly 10 times increase in income from ₹1,800 per month in 2013-14 to ₹16,277 in 2020-21, with better food security because millet crops were not impacted by excessive rainfall.
○ Women were key to villages adopting millets, as they were able to demonstrate that millets were easier to grow and led to better outcomes.
WAY FORWARD:
1. Production, Processing and Storage:
● Millet cultivation should be encouraged because of its climate resilience, short cropping period, and capacity to thrive in poor soils, mountainous terrains, and with little rain.
● Women millet farmers in rain-fed areas have to be empowered through capacity-building and skills training.
● There is also a need to develop solutions to improve the shelf life of millets - grains, processed grains, flours to make it comparable to competing crops.
2. Marketing:
● For sourcing quality millets as well as their steady marketing by entrepreneurs, there is a need for linking small and marginal millet farmers to online marketing platforms, such as the Electronic Agricultural National Market (e-NAM).
● The setting up of farmer producer organizations (FPOs) can also enhance the millet producer's bargaining power in both the domestic and global markets.
3. Generating Awareness and Capacity Building:
● There is a need to engage with multiple and varied stakeholders, like doctors, chefs and nutritionists across the country.
● Both farmers and consumers need to be educated about the benefits of Millets.
4. Branding to Popularize:
● It is necessary to improve marketing strategies in order to increase consumption, as well as improve recipes in order to get millets onto people’s plates and to make them a regular part of their diet.
● Companies like MTR that make ragi rava idli and ragi dosa breakfast mixes are a good start.
5. Government Procurement and Distribution:
● The quantity of coarse grains procured for the Central Pool and distributed under the NFSA must be increased.
● Millets should be included in the Anganwadi Midday Meal Scheme or the PDS, in order to improve the nutritional status of pre-school children and women of reproductive age.
● Only jowar, bajra, and ragi are covered under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) set by the Government, Other millets should also be included.
● The inclusion of millet-based foods in international, national and state-level feeding programs will help to overcome the existing nutrient deficiencies of protein, calcium and iron in developing
The cultivation of millet on a broad scale has the potential to assist farmers in safeguarding their livelihoods in the face of climate change. Widespread adoption of millets can also help address lifestyle diseases like diabetes due to their nutritional value. Government has taken several commendable initiatives to promote millet production. The efforts should be scaled up to further enhance area under millet cultivation.