Government initiatives for millet promotion

The Government has undertaken efforts to boost the output, productivity, and revenue of millet producers under various Central and State Government initiatives in recognition of the health advantages of millets [Figure 1]. Millets are being promoted at various levels by the Indian Government as well. Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millet Promotion (INSIMP) (recently merged with National Food Security Mission); National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture; Rainfed Area Development Project (RADP); National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013; Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), etc., are some of the main Government initiatives and projects for the promotion of millets.

Figure 1:: 

Government Initiatives for increasing millet production and consumption

Policies/schemes on millet by the Government of India

With respect to millet production and promotion, some of the existing schemes/ initiatives by the Government of India include the following:

Submission on Nutri Cereals under National Food Security Mission (NFSM)^[ 6]

Due to high nutritious value of millets, the Government designated them as nutri-cereals in April 2018. From the 2018 to 2019, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) carried out a Sub-Mission on Nutri-Cereals (Millets) under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) to increase the area, production, and productivity of millets. These millets include Sorghum (Jowar), Pearl Millet (Bajra), Finger Millet (Ragi/Mandua), Minor Millets i.e., Foxtail Millet (Kangani/Kakun), Proso Millet (Cheena), Kodo Millet (Kodo), Barnyard Millet (Sawa/Sanwa/ Jhangora), Little Millet (Kutki) and two Pseudo Millets Buck-wheat (Kuttu) and Amaranthus (Chaulai) in 212 districts of 14 states. The goal of the mission was to develop a market-oriented strategy for dealing with production, demand, and research-related concerns; to boost Nutri-Cereal production in the designated districts of the nation through sustainable area expansion and productivity enhancement; and strengthen the Nutri-Cereals system for seed supply and post-harvest value addition to improve price realization for farmers through effective market linkages.

PLI scheme on millet^[ 7]

• On March 31, 2021, the Government approved a central sector program called the “Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Food Processing Industry” with a budget of INR 10,900 crores. The program is being implemented over a 7-year period from 2021–2022 to 2026–2027. The main goals are to encourage the development of global leaders in the food manufacturing industry and to promote Indian food product brands in foreign markets. The strategy has been designed to promote specific food product areas, notably millet-based goods that have a strong potential for growth.
• The Ministry of Food Processing Industries’ Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Millet-Based Goods (PLISMBP) offers incentives based on sales to encourage the big food industry to introduce millet-based goods. The program’s objective is to encourage the production of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook millet-based products.
• Start-ups and entrepreneurs are provided support for creating recipes and value-added products that encourage the consumption of millets.

Promoting millets in Public Distribution System (PDS)

Millets have been included in the Public Distribution System by the Government to make them more widely available and affordable. Additionally, to make it easier to transport millets, the Government revised the rules for transporting millets produced in excess to other states. To meet the advance demand placed by the consuming State before the start of procurement, the provision of interstate transportation of surplus millets through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is incorporated.^[8]

Promotion of millet by MWCD in supplementary nutrition program (SNP)

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has advised all States and UTs to include millets in their recipes to improve the nutritional value of the food served as part of the Anganwadi Services’ Supplementary Nutrition Program. It is mandated to provide millet-based recipe at least once per week under the Supplementary Nutrition Program component of Mission Saksham Anganwadi &Poshan 2.0 and its integration in Take Home Ration (THR) provided to the beneficiaries.^[9]

Research activities

• a. The Government has allocated funding for designating the Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR), Hyderabad, as a Center of Excellence (CoE), for exchanging best practices, technologies, and research pertaining to millets. The mission of the IIMR is to “Transform millets cultivation from subsistence farming to globally competitive through cost-effective Agricultural Crop Rotation (ACR) and environmentally friendly production processing and value addition technologies and supply chain networks.”
• b. The Nutrihub incubator of the Indian Institute of Millets Research provides seed funding to nutricereal entrepreneurs at the idea and prototype stages and provides training.
• c. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) supports 45 collaborating Centers located in various State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and ICAR Institutes for the development of new varieties of millets as part of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Small millets, Sorghum, and Pearl millet.
• d. A number of national agricultural research organizations are working to create hybrid and high-yielding millets as well as the right equipment for hulling, grading, and processing them into high-value goods that may be used in new urban consumption patterns and perhaps even exported.

Support to States

The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare also offers assistance to the States through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme “Support to State Extension Programme for Extension Reforms” for a variety of extension activities, including Farmers’ Training, Exposure visits, Demonstrations, Kisan Mela Kisan Goshthi, farmers-scientists interaction, mobilization of Farmers Interest Groups, and Setting up of Farm Schools in the field of awardee/ progressive farmers.

Other provisions/support^[ 10, 11]

• a. The National Year of Millets was obsessed in 2018,
• b. The “International Year of Millets” resolution, sponsored by India, was approved by the UN General Assembly. The Government is promoting millets, also known as Shree Anna, both domestically and internationally in keeping with the recognition of 2018 as the International Year of Millets.
• c. From 2018 to the present, eight bio-fortified Bajra varieties/hybrids have been made available for cultivation.
• d. States are also encouraging millet under the Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan Yojana (RKVY), Paramparagat Krishi Vigyan Yojana (PKVY), and Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER).
• e. To enhance the production and consumption of organic millets, the Government is supporting organic farming of millets.
• f. The “Mapping and Exchange of Good Practices” program for mainstreaming millets in Asia and Africa has been launched by the World Food Programme (WFP), India, and NITI Aayog. They have compiled a list of effective methods for increasing millet’s production and consumption both in India and overseas.

Discussion

Technology and policy plays important role in the cultivation and production dynamics of different food crops including millet, which eventually influence the demand and supply of individual food crops. Over the period, the land used for millet cultivation was diverted to other crops due to lack of- policy support, market-driven demands, adequate incentives to produce more, and technical advancements to increase productivity resulting in declined cultivation of millet.^[12]

Recently, the Central and State Governments have started to recognize the potential of millets to address several agrarian, food, and nutritional health challenges in India and have also begun to adopt initiatives that will have a more profound and extensive effect.

Government is putting various initiatives into place and providing assistance for increasing millet production and its consumption for nutritional and health benefits to its population and for economical benefits to all the stakeholders including farmers. The Union Ministry of Agriculture has created a “Seven Sutra” campaign to promote millets that emphasizes improving production, nutrition and health, value addition and recipe development, entrepreneurship, awareness building, policy formulation, and global exposure.

Impact of policies

The millets are finally finding its place in the limelight as an international delicacy due to numerous initiatives adopted by the Government at the state and national levels. Some of the obvious visible effects of Government policy include the following:

• Greater public awareness regarding health benefits of millets;
• Rising demand for minor millets in Indian cities, particularly among the upper middle class;
• Traditional recipes are altered and new ones are developed to appeal to young urban consumers;
• Millets are being promoted as smart foods, nutraceuticals, or the meal of the future in trendy eateries and retail establishments;
• Numerous upscale restaurant chains have started stocking millets and goods made from millets as healthy options. Products made from millets, such as flour, flakes, biscuits, etc., are more in demand in the consumer market.
• The millet market was valued at over USD 9 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach USD 12 billion by 2025, growing at a rate of over 4.5% from 2019 to 2025.^[13]

Conclusion and Way Forward

The measures adopted by the Government for the promotion of millet farming will help in diversified farming, increase agricultural resilience, and improve the livelihood in the arid regions. It will also aid in tackling issues of climate change, as the millets behave as climate-savvy crops by enduring temperature changes, leaving behind little carbon and water footprints. However, to encourage and sustain this expansion of the millet market, a robust and long-term relationship between the Government, researchers, local organizations, and farmers is vital. There is a need for efforts to safeguard regional varieties and specialized production methods to prevent millets from losing their ecological benefit. Additionally, it is the responsibility of all stakeholders to make sure that farmers also benefit from millet’s potential advantages, in addition to urban customers and agribusinesses.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.