Millets in India – Background, Scheme & Advantages

India has had a long and fruitful relationship with millets despite the Green Revolution’s preference for rice and wheat. Due to several cultural traditions, millets persisted in India, although they were referred to as “coarse grains.”

In fact, following India’s petition to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, approved at the 160th session of the FAO Council in December 2018, 2023 will now be the International Year of Millets. Due to national and state-level measures, millets are returning to farms and fields. Drought-resistant and climate-smart millets are popular among farmers for their ability to thrive in locations with limited rainfall and infertile soil. They are known as nutri-cereals.

Millets in India – Background, Schemes, and Advantages

One of the oldest meals, millets are small-seeded resilient crops that may thrive in arid zones or rain-fed areas despite marginal soil fertility and moisture conditions. Tribal and rain-fed, and mountainous locations are ideal for growing millets. India’s primary millet growing states are Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh,  Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. 

The 65-day growing season of millets allows them to go from seed to harvest in weeks. Millet’s ability to help people in densely crowded areas in the world makes it vitally important. In a cool, dry place, millets can last up to two years or more if properly preserved.

Millet Production in India

Indian millets have been shrinking in size for the past 60 years. As a result of adopting high-yielding cultivars and improved production methods, productivity has increased.

Rajasthan is the leading producer of millets in India, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka. The decline of millet production in India is due to low compensation,  lack of input subsidies and pricing incentives, and subsidised supply of fine cereals through PDS. A shift in consumer tastes is also a significant factor behind the downturn in the industry. Many of these causes contributed to the decline of millets (especially jowar), and the rise of soybeans and other crops like cotton and sugarcane.

Government Schemes for Millet Production in India

Despite its many advantages, millets are only eaten by traditional consumers, i.e., tribal groups. This is primarily due to the lack of ready-to-eat millet-based goods for consumers. 

Millets have recently attracted attention, and attempts are being made to develop accessible and value-added processed goods from these grains. Efforts are being made to expand the food basket by including millets like jowar, bajra, ragi, etc. in the public distribution system. Many households in dry land and hilly regions rely on millets to meet their food demands.

The government has recognised millets for their function in the food chain. As a part of the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), which aims to increase foodgrain output by 25 million tonnes, millets are assigned 2 million tonnes or 8 percent of the total.

The Indian government shifted its focus to millet farming practices and enacted measures to support the farmers in this sector. The Indian government has several programmes in place to help farmers grow millets, including the following:

1. Integrated Cereals Development Programmes in Coarse Cereals ICDP-CC which comes under Macro Management of Agriculture. 
2. Rainfed Area Development  Programme – RADP under RKVY as well. 
3. Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millet Promotion under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

Advantages of Millet

Millets have traditionally been referred to as “coarse grains,” but today, they are referred to as “nutria-millets or nutria-cereals” because of their nutritional value. To further understand why India produces millets, here are a few examples:

• Because of its ability to flourish even in the most challenging conditions, millets have been dubbed “wonder grains” and “crops of the future,” respectively.
• Millets are crops that serve two functions. As a result of its dual usage as a food crop and a livestock feed crop, it ensures the food and livelihood of millions of people while also helping to boost farm productivity.
• Millets contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Contrary to popular belief, both wheat and paddy contribute to climate change by emitting methane.
• Chemical fertilisers are not required in the production of millets. Millet crops are resistant to pests, and storage does not affect them.
• In terms of nutritional content, millet is one of the best vitamins and minerals and dietary fibre sources. Wheat and rice pale in comparison to the nutritional value of this grain, which is roughly three to five times greater. In addition to its high concentration of polyphenols and antioxidants, sorghum (Jowar) also contains cholesterol-lowering waxes.
• Millets’ high dietary fibre and low glycemic index work together to help prevent obesity, and decrease blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

Conclusion

Farmers in India see millets as a smart crop that can adjust to changing weather conditions. Because it is a low-maintenance crop, its yield success percentages are substantially higher than other crops. It is disease-resistant and in high demand, requiring very little water and no fertiliser. India’s millet farming business is a massive boost to the country’s health and job opportunities. Though the millet sector is dwindling, the government encourages millet culture through several programmes.