In the 'International Year of Millets', here's what ails the 'superfood'

Country' annual production hasn't crossed ambitious benchmark because of issues in procurement, pricing

Millet dishes are on the menu everywhere: at restaurants, G20 events hosted by India and private functions. Even the Indian Army is considering making millet part of its meals for soldiers.

When the United Nations declared 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’, it gave a fillip to an age-old food.

The ‘superfood’

Millets are written about in ancient Indian texts and were a regular part of its people’s diet. When the Green Revolution pushed for India’s food security in the sixties, millets became ‘orphan crops’: consumed less and almost forgotten.

Before the Green Revolution, millets made up around 40 per cent of all cultivated grains but their share dropped to around 20 per cent over the years. The area under millet production has been replaced with commercial crops, oilseeds, pulses and maize.

In India, millets are grown in states that have low to moderate precipitation (200–800 mm rainfall). Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are 10 states that together account for all millets produced in India.

The global average yield of millet is 1229 kg/ha and in India it is 1239 kg/ha. India produces all the nine commonly known millets. It is the largest producer and fifth-largest exporter of millets.

India produces annually more than 17 million tonnes of millet, which is 80 per cent of Asia’s and 20 per cent of global production.

Most states in India grow one or more millet crops.
 

Pearl millet/ bajra (60 per cent), sorghum/ jowar (27 per cent), finger millet/ ragi (11 per cent) and small millets (2 per cent) are the major millets India produces (as per the fourth advance estimate 2021-22). Jowar, bajra and ragi occupy more than 90 per cent of the total millets produced in India.

India exported millet products worth $34.32 million in 2021-22. In 2020-21, it exported millets worth $26.97 million compared to $28.5 million in 2019-20.

• According to 2020 data, India’s millets exports grew at around 3 per cent CAGR in five years ending with 2020.

• India exports millets to UAE, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Oman, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, UK and USA.

• Jowar and Proso are the most cultivated millets in 112 and 35 countries, respectively.

• Sorghum and Pearl cover more than 90 per cent of the area under production for millets in India. The remaining production comes from ragi (finger millets), cheena (proso millets), foxtail millets (kangni) and other non-segregated millets.

• The major millet-importing countries in the world are Indonesia, Belgium, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Italy, the U.S.A, United Kingdom, Brazil and Netherlands.

Benefits for children’s health

A recent nationwide study found that millets boosted physical growth of children and adolescents by 26-39 per cent when they replaced rice in standard meals.

The study, published in the journal ‘Nutrients’, was done by seven organisations in four countries. It was led by S Anitha, Senior Scientist-Nutrition at the Hyderabad- International Crops Research Institute of the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

The report is a review and meta-analysis of eight prior published studies, ICRISAT had said in a statement.

Among children fed millet-based meals, a relative increase of 28.2 per cent in mean height, 26 per cent in weight, 39 per cent in the mid upper arm circumference and 37 per cent in chest circumference was noted when compared to children on regular rice-based diets.

Infants, preschool and school-going children consumed millets for 3 months to 4.5 years for the study.

Five of the studies in the review used finger millet, one used sorghum and two used a mixture of millets (finger, pearl, foxtail, little and kodo millets).

Uneven production

India’s annual millet production has not crossed the 17-18 million tonne benchmark because in years when prices aren’t good farmers shift to other lucrative crops such as paddy and pulses.

Production was 16 million tonnes in 2021-22 compared to 18.02 million tonnes in 2020-21: a drop of almost 11 per cent, according to government’s data. Production of all three major millets—jowar, bajra and ragi—dropped in both the kharif and rabi seasons in 2021-22.

The Centre has fixed a target to produce around 20.5 million tonnes of millets in 2022-23, but the actual achievement, as per the third advance estimate, could be 17.14 million tonnes.

India’s millet yield, on an average, is around 1,240 kilograms per hectare. In comparison, paddy has a per hectare yield of around 2800-3500 kgs per hectare. The per hectare yield of maize is around 3300 kg and for wheat it is around 3,500 kg.

This yield disadvantage makes millet's second choice crops for farmers more so when prices realized aren't high enough.

Also, in the absence of assured procurement and markets like in case of wheat and rice, growing millets isn’t risk-free for farmers.

State procurement of millets

Millets procurement is uneven and concentrated in few geographies and states.

As per the latest report by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), in kharif 2022-23 season procurement of jowar was mainly concentrated in Maharashtra (82.5 per cent), followed by Madhya Pradesh (15.7 per cent) and Karnataka (1.8 per cent) whereas; ragi is procured primarily from Karnataka (98.8 percent).

For bajra, procurement was concentrated in Haryana (64.7 per cent) and then Uttar Pradesh (34.6 per cent).

Procurement of nutri-cereals in 2022-23 till March 15 was around 3.8 million tones: around 38 per cent less than the same period last.

“There is a need to strengthen procurement of nutri-cereals and ensure regular outlet through Public Distribution System and Other Welfare Schemes like Mid-Day Meal etc. Efforts should be made to encourage value addition in nutri-cereals through industry initiatives as well as consumption of nutri-cereals needs to be encouraged,” said the CACP in its report.

The CACP report recommended a two-pronged strategy to address supply- and demand-side challenges in millets.

Supply-side steps should increase production of millets through genetic improvement, strengthening seed chain, improved agronomic practices and enhanced shelf-life through value-addition and on the demand side steps should be taken to create demand by including millets in the Public Distribution System and Other Welfare Schemes, industrial usage of millets and exploiting export market opportunities.

The yield gap in millets is immense. As per reports the potential yield of bajra in Gujarat is around 34.7 quintals per hectare while the average yield in the state is just around 24.4 quintals.

The potential yield of ragi in Karnataka is around 36.4 quintals per hectare while the actual yield is around 13.3 quintals.

It is here that the role of research institutions and private seed companies will come into play.

Just as hybrid maize revolutionized maize production in India, a similar attempt in jowar, bajra or ragi could give these wonder crops a new lease of life.

On the demand side, experts have said that more than PDS it is the other welfare programmes, like mid-day meal scheme and anganwadis yojana, that millets could play a role in reducing malnutrition and undernourishment. 

Abhishek Jain, fellow and director – Powering Livelihoods, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), said that India needs to invest more on research and development on millets to increase yields that are remunerative for farmers. Similar to what it has done for wheat and rice.

"We need to cultivate millets in areas with low prevailing rice productivity or rain-fed regions where growing other crops is impossible instead of targeting highly productive rice areas," Jain told Business Standard. 

India needs to invest in the decentralised processing of millets to strengthen local supply chains. On why millets still haven't been mainstreamed, Jain said they need to be part of the overall diversified diets but need not be everyone's staple. 

"We need a multi-prong approach to mainstream millets. Which could include positioning them as as aspirational for urban middle-to-high-income consumers, encouraging the food processing industry to introduce millet-based recipes, partnering with leading chefs, and introducing them in the PDS, mid-day meal schemes, government/railways/defence/institutional canteens," Jain said, adding that millets need to be supported with MSP-based for the next few years with a sunset approach.