Problems faced by Farmers for producing Millets in India
Author : Sony Rajesh Mourya, MBA (Finance)
1. Persistent: The father of Green Revolution in India has opined that state policies related to
crop loan, subsidies, favourable conditions for commercial agriculture, supply of food items like
rice, wheat, maida and rava at reasonable cost through the public distribution system (PDS), have
shaped the minds of people to neglect minor millets. (Behera, 2017)
2. Entrepreneurship: It is a game that requires time. You need to know the farmer first. You have
to build the network. It requires time and effort. You cannot be a millet entrepreneur overnight.
Most of the farmers will grow wheat and rice because the output is more, they do not see the
worth or demand of millets and thus supply is always a problem. (Shah et al. 2023)
3. Food security : The effect of addition of millets on the sensory acceptability of food products
is scanty. (Kumar et al. 2018)
4. Micronutrients: An important constraint is the lack of stable sources of quality seed for many
NUS crops, although with sufficient training, particularly in marketing and managerial skills as
well as in the technology of seed production, farmers’ groups can successfully provide
sustainable supplies of quality seed (Witcombe et al. 2010)
5. Margin: Profit level of the pearl millet can be significantly increased with policies that
guarantee better farmer price and lower inputs costs (Umar et al. 2017)
6. Technology : There is no organized programme for production and supply of seeds of
improved varieties. There is no ready market for the disposal of surplus produce at a
remunerative price. There is lack of extension and development support. Though a lot of research
is done by All India co-ordinate Research Project on Millet Improvement (AICMIP) and State
Agricultural Universities, still there is a need to intensify to increase the area and production of
millets. (Stanly, Michaelraj & Shanmugam, A. 2013)
7. Biofortified – The market demand is likely to increase only after an investment in crop
breeding and the integration into the public distribution system, nutritional intervention schemes,
private seed and food companies with strong mainstreaming nutritional policies. The following
sections describe various aspects of breeding and market opportunity for addressing
micronutrient malnutrition. (Mahalingam, et al. 2019)
8. Food supply: Although the food availability approach succeeded in increasing the food supply
in India, this paradigm has been criticized for not addressing matters such as inequality of access
to agricultural technologies, land and water distribution, and environmental sustainability
(Patel, et al. 2015)
9. Market: To introduce traditional grains that are both nutrient-dense and environmentally
sustainable, agricultural diversification is necessary. (Tiwari et al. 2023)
10. Sustainable Livelihood : The involuntary agrobiodiversity conservation by indigenous
farmers is often neglected. This Sreejith Aravindakshan and A.K.Sherief IBC Paper 2010 4
ignorance on the part of policy focus has contributed to accelerated erosion of agrobiodiversity.
(Aravindakshan et al, 2010)
Conclusion:
There has been an increase in millet farming in the last few years due to the claim that it is a
superfood, a diet for all human health problem, easily adjustable to poor climatic condition and
Good for soil health too. The United Nations has also announced the year 2023 as the
‘International Year of the Millet’. As per reviewing the above papers it has been observed that
though the government is promoting the increase in millet farming, the number of farmers, acres,
unavailability of good quality seeds and many other factors, have either declined or stagnated.
Which explains why the millet farmers fail to meet the government’s ambitious plan.
As announced in the recent budget, millets will also be branded locally and nationally to promote
domestic consumption. Efforts are being made by the government to promote Millets. India
contributes 80% of millet production in Asia, and 20% globally. There has, however, been no
increase in millet income in India. It is necessary to go beyond simply making millets soil-,
water-, and climate-smart in order to make them income-smart. We also need to stop viewing
millets as marginal crops growing on marginal land. This can only be achieved with the help of
technology. To improve the farming condition of farmers in India, there needs to be a supply of
quality seeds, input support, social safety nets for millets, market support, government subsidies
and other policies to tackle the issue of millet production in India.
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