Millets

Millets

Subject : Agriculture

Context:

Pre-launch celebration of the International Year of Millets 2023 was organised by the Ministries of Agriculture and External Affairs.

Details:

It held– “Covid, conflict, and climate” as the world’s main food security challenges, and placed the cultivation and popularisation of millets in context of “de-risking the global economy”.

Concept:

Millets

• It is used for the  small-grained cereals.
• There is evidence for consumption of millets by the Indus valley people (3,000 BC), and several varieties were first cultivated in India.
• Millet is grown mainly in low-income and developing countries in Asia and Africa, and are part of the food basket of about 60 crore people across the globe. West Africa, China, and Japan are home to indigenous varieties of the crop.
• It is the traditional food for more than half a billion people in Asia and Africa.
• They require much less water than rice and wheat, and are mainly grown in rainfed areas.
• Example– sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), foxtail millet (kangni/ Italian millet), little millet (kutki), kodo millet, finger millet (ragi/ mandua), proso millet (cheena/ common millet), barnyard millet (sawa/ sanwa/ jhangora), and brown top millet (korale).
• Globally, sorghum (jowar) is the biggest millet crop.
  • The major producers of jowar are the United States, China, Australia, India, Argentina, Nigeria, and Sudan.
• Bajra is another major millet crop.
  •  India and some African countries are major producers.

Production of millets in India:

• In India, millets are mainly a kharif crop. 
• During 2018-19, three millet crops — bajra (3.67%), jowar (2.13%), and ragi (0.48%) — accounted for about 7 per cent of the gross cropped area in the country.
• Millets are considered to be “powerhouses of nutrition”
• In 2018 the Agriculture Ministry declared millets as “Nutri Cereals”.
  • Jowar, bajra, ragi/ mandua, the minor millets — kangani/ kakun, cheena, kodo, sawa/ sanwa/ jhangora, and kutki — and the two pseudo millets, buckwheat (kuttu) and amaranth (chaulai) are regarded as “Nutri Cereals” for the purposes of production, consumption, and trade.
• Millets contain 7-12% protein, 2-5% fat, 65-75% carbohydrates and 15-20% dietary fibre.
• Small millets are more nutritious compared to fine cereals as they have higher protein, fat and fibre content

Main millets states

• Jowar is mainly grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh.
  •  Maharashtra accounted for the largest area (1.94 mn ha) and production (1.76 million tonnes) of jowar during 2020-21.
• Bajra is mainly grown in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
  • Rajasthan accounted for the largest area (4.32 mn ha) and production (4.53 million) of bajra during 2020-21.

Consumption patterns:

• In the latest available NSSO household consumption expenditure survey– less than 10 percent of rural and urban households reported consumption of millets.
• More than 95% of rural households reported consumption of rice and more than 59% wheat; only 8.5%, 6.6%, and 5.3% reported consumption of jowar, bajra, and ragi respectively.
• In urban areas, monthly per capita consumption of cereals (9.322 kg) was lower than in rural areas. 
• The consumption of millets was reported mainly from Gujarat (jowar and bajra), Karnataka (jowar and ragi), Maharashtra (jowar and bajra), Rajasthan (bajra), and Uttarakhand (ragi).

Millets under PDS

• Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, eligible households are entitled to get rice, wheat, and coarse grain at Rs 3, Rs 2, and Re 1 per kg respectively.
• While the Act does not mention millets, coarse grains are included in the definition of “food grains” under Section 2(5) of the NFSA.
• However, the quantity of coarse grains procured for the Central Pool and distributed under the NFSA has been negligible.
  • Only 2.64 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of coarse grain was available in the Central Pool on November 1, 2022 while that of rice, wheat, and unmilled paddy were 265.97 LMT, 210.46 LMT, and 263.70 LMT respectively.
• The Centre has accepted the recommendation of a committee set up by it, that millets be included in the PDS in order to improve nutritional support.
• The government has set a target to procure 13.72 LMT coarse grains during the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2022-23

MSP for millets

The government declares a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for jowar, bajra, and ragi only. 

Year of Millets

• On March 3, 2021, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets. 
• The proposal was moved by India, and was supported by 72 countries.
• Several events and activities–conferences and field activities, and the issuing of stamps and coins, are expected as part of the celebrations aimed at spreading awareness about millets, inspiring stakeholders to improve production and quality, and attracting investments.