The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Millets have special nutritional properties (they are high in protein, dietary fiber, micronutrients and antioxidants) and special agronomic characteristics (suitable for drought-resistant and semi-arid regions). If millet is nutritionally good and adapted to the climate, what are the constraints in increasing the cultivation and consumption of millet?
I provide a brief outline of the economics of millet cultivation (its production, consumption and procurement), followed by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation’s (MSSRF) experience in conserving millet biodiversity and promoting millet production and consumption. I’ll give you some lessons. Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, a model that can be adapted to other areas. In writing this article, the views of Oliver King and DJ Nithya of MSSRF have been valuable.
Barriers to Millet Consumption
Two groups of millets are grown in India. Major millets include jowar, bajra and ragi, while minor millets include foxtail, small millet, kodo, proso and barnyard millet.
In 2019-20, the total off-take of food grains and school meals through the Public Distribution System (PDS) and the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) was also around 54 million tonnes. If about 20% of rice and wheat is replaced with millets, the state will have to buy 10.8 million tonnes of millets.
The total production of nutri-cereals (earlier known as coarse cereals) was 47.7 million tonnes in 2019-20. The bulk of this was maize (28.8 million tonnes), a non-millet crop used primarily as fodder (M.S. Swaminathan suggested that millets should be replaced by nutri-cereals ). Production of ragi together with jowar (4.8 million tonnes), bajra (10.4 million tonnes), and other millets (3.7 million tonnes) totaled 18.9 million tonnes. With this production, inclusion of millet in the PDS would be possible only if more than 50% of the production was procured – an unlikely scenario. At present, bajra is procured only in a few states, and the stock in the central pool is low. In May 2022, the central stock had 33 million tonnes of rice and 31 million tonnes of wheat, but only four lakh tonnes of nutrients.
The real problems are: firstly, the decline in the area under millet cultivation, and, secondly, the low productivity of millet. Over the past decade, production of jowar (jowar) has fallen, production of bajra (millet) has stagnated, and production of other millets, including finger millet (raagi), has stagnated or declined. The productivity of jowar and bajra has increased, but marginally. The average yield of jowar was 957 kg per hectare in 2011-12 and 989 kg per hectare in 2019-20. The yield of bajra was 1,079 kg per hectare in 2010-11 and 1,237 kg per hectare in 2017-18.
Unless there is a substantial increase in productivity and production, all incentives for consumption of millet will come to naught.
Kolli Hills Changes
MSSRF’s millet project had three objectives – to preserve crop diversity in local millet varieties; To increase production and consumption of millets and to increase farm income. Kolli Hills Block, Project Area, Namakkal District is a distinct geographical and agro-ecological region of the Eastern Ghats, inhabited by income-poor Scheduled Tribe households. Cultivation of marginal millet has declined rapidly, and land use has shifted toward more profitable crops such as cassava (tapioca), pineapple, coffee, and pepper. As reported by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the area under nutri-cereals in India has declined sharply since the mid-1980s – from 41 million hectares in the 1980s to 24 million hectares in 2017-18.
The reasons for the change in land use include low yields. Moreover, processing of millet is a time-consuming and laborious task performed by women. Additionally, little was marketed, and a small portion of the grain was processed into value-added products.
The project intervened in three areas. At first, efforts were made to increase yields using a combination of improved seeds, new agricultural practices, and participatory variety trials for new technology. Community seed banks were designed and created to preserve, restore, regenerate, strengthen, and improve local seed systems.
Second, adapted post-harvest machinery (pulverizer and dehler) was introduced. Threshing millets by hand for one hour by women yielded 2 kg to 3 kg of grain (all millets except finger millet have a hard seed coat which requires abrasive force to remove starch from the seed coat ). The introduction of small scale local mechanical milling run by self-help groups was a game-changer.
The third major initiative was training. Kolli Hills Agrobiodiversity Conservators Federation (KHABCOFED) was formed to oversee all activities towards training and value addition. Ready-to-cook products were branded under the Kolli Hills Natural Foods label and market links were established. Net returns from value-added products were five to 10 times higher than from cereals: a kilogram of little millet rice sold for ₹7, a kilogram of millet upma sold for ₹41.
The most important result of the last 25 years has been that the decline in the area under small millet and ragi cultivation at the block level has been arrested, and has, in fact, increased gradually after 2014-15, although the area is still There is also a third acreage in the early 2000s. Improved seeds, agricultural practices and intercropping have resulted in increased yields. There has been a significant improvement in the income from millet cultivation. The change from manual threshing to milling has reduced the drudgery of women and encouraged the consumption of bajra. The number of private mills with customized dehullers and pulverizers has increased (and the technology has been marketed at Krishi Vigyan Kendras across Tamil Nadu).
economics is the issue
The most difficult outcomes to measure are changes in consumption and nutrition. A rapid sample study in 2021 found that people of all ages ate millet nine days a month. Fifteen years ago, a separate study showed that 39% of households regularly consumed millets. Availability is a factor here, but so are changing food habits.
In conclusion, increasing millet production and reversing the decline in cultivated area are possible steps, but not easy, and require multiple interventions including scientific inputs, institutional mechanisms, financial incentives and in-kind support. The Government of India and the State Governments, especially Karnataka and Odisha, have launched the Millet Mission. These policies are welcome, but unless we look at the economics of millet farming, we face a losing battle against more profitable alternatives. Small farmers in hilly areas and dry plains, who are among the poorest families in rural India, are going to cultivate millet only if it brings them good returns. Adequate public support can make millet cultivation profitable, ensure supply for the PDS, and ultimately provide nutritional benefits to a large segment of the population.
Madhura Swaminathan is Professor, Indian Statistical Institute and Chairperson, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSRRF)