Due to the scarcity of food in the country resulting from poor-irrigation coverage, droughts and famines in India post-Independence, the ‘Green Revolution’ was introduced in the 1960s and onwards. The Green Revolution focused majorly on the cultivation of wheat and rice through the introduction of HYV (high yielding variety) seeds. With an emphasis on eradicating hunger from the country, water-intensive and pesticide-intensive monoculture became prevalent. While the mass production of wheat and paddy reduced the Hunger Index in India and ensured food security to a great degree, continuation of the trends proved to be detrimental to the country’s ecological sustainability, groundwater levels, crop diversity, and nutritional security.
Of the Kharif crops produced in the pre-Green Revolution period, Pearl Millets (bajra) made up for almost 50% of the total agricultural grains produced, while paddy made up for around 13% of the total agricultural grains produced. When speaking about Rabi crops, chana made up for 42% while wheat made up for a little over 4% of the total produce before the Green Revolution. Following the Green Revolution in the 1960s, production of wheat and paddy started to increase exponentially, with a proportional reduction in other coarse grains, including the millets.
Millets to the rescue
The environmental impact of the Green Revolution was multifold. This was owing to the pesticide and fertiliser-intensive and water-intensive nature of the HYV seeds. While it requires 900-2,000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of wheat, and around 2,500-5,000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of rice, in comparison, 1kg of millets require significantly lower water consumption, ranging from 650 to 1,200 litres. This would mean that cultivating millets would not only prevent rapid groundwater depletion and reduce over-reliance on rainfed irrigation, which renders agriculture vulnerable to the vagaries of the climate, but would also contribute to nutritional security of the nation, as millets are much richer in nutrients compared to wheat and paddy.
For the promotion of millets, the Government of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a number of far-sighted initiatives. Millets were declared nutri-cereals 2018, with work being carried out on all levels from spreading awareness among the farmers about the benefits of millets to generating interest in the market. The Government of India celebrated 2018 as the ‘National Year of Millets.’ According to a study published in Journal of Nutrition in 2018, consuming biofortified pearl millet (bajra) ceases the deleterious effects of iron deficiency and significantly improves learning and mental abilities related to perception, attention, and memory among Indian school-going adolescents. He also spearheaded the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution for declaring the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets, with the proposal of India being supported by 72 countries.
Coarse grains, especially millets; such as jowar, bajra and ragi – are strongly linked to Indian dietary traditions, which is why the country has for long been the largest producer of millets in the world. It is no surprise that this cereal family is reputed and is being made popular once again, given its energy density and its capability to be grown with ease in arid soils and its reduced susceptibility to pests, relative to grains such as rice, wheat and maize.
In the same year, PM Modi inaugurated a global conference on millets, extolling them as the “door to prosperity” for India’s marginal farmers, the “cornerstone of nutrition,” and as a potential ally against “climate change.” Millets were tagged ‘Shree Anna’ by the Union Finance Minister in the 2023 Budget. Explaining the rationale behind the naming in view of their climate-resilience and nutritionally-rich nature, PM Modi said, “Sri Anna’ means the best among all the food grains.” The PM had also claimed that India’s millet mission — the campaign for Shree Anna — would prove to be a boon for 2.5 crore farmers of the country, who are involved in millet farming.
Increasing Millet cultivation in recent years
In the pre-Green Revolution era, in 1965-66, millets were cultivated in 36.90 million hectares. Before the Green Revolution, millets such as sorghum, pearl millet, and finger millet were grown and consumed in large quantities across the country. However, their cultivation decreased post-Green Revolution. The area under millet cultivation in India has been continuously decreasing since 1971-72, and research indicates that the biggest drop occurred between 2006 and 2016, the duration which coincided with 8 years of the UPA government tenure. According to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, in 2016-17, the area under millet cultivation declined to 14.72 million hectares (60% less coverage area) due to change in consumption pattern, dietary habits, unavailability of millets, low yield, less demand and conversion of irrigated area for cultivation of rice and wheat. As a result of this, nutrients like protein, Vitamin-A, iron and Iodine levels fell in women and children.
However, India’s work towards promoting millets since 2018 has led to an increase in consumption in around 13 millets-growing states — the consumption increased from 2-3 kg per person per month to 14 kg per person per month. More than 500 start-ups have been set up for millet products. Farmers’ organisations and self-help groups are also coming forward in this direction. In 19 of India’s districts, millet products have been selected under the ‘one district one product’ scheme of the BJP-led NDA government, boosting income for millet farmers and generating employment in the millet sector. As per data provided in the Lok Sabha, the production of jowar, bajra and ragi has been increasing steadily since 2018-19.
The Government of India, under the leadership of PM Modi, has also created a sub-mission under the National Food Security Mission to encourage millet cultivation and its inclusion in PDS. As per FAO estimates for 2021, India produced 173 lakh tonnes of millets, thereby making India the top 5 millet exporters in the world. While the area under millet cultivation and millet yield was gradually decreasing post Independence, now the trend is reversing under the leadership of PM Modi. For the common populace, millets are a high source of protein and are considered a super-food, which helps in various lifestyle and health-related concerns. For the farmers, millets provide a sustainable source of income along with an insurance against climate extremities. Further, millets also allow farmers better flexibility in terms of crop diversity, as millets have a short-growing season of 12-14 weeks as opposed to 20-24 weeks for rice and wheat.
Citations
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