Millets

Also called: Shree Anna, Nutri-cereals · Topic: Major Crops of India: Distribution and Conditions · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 4 "Agriculture"

Meaning

Millets are small-seeded grasses grown for grain. They are hardy and mostly rainfed (they depend on rain, not canals or wells), and they grow on poor soils. The main ones are jowar (sorghum), bajra (pearl millet) and ragi (finger millet). The Government of India notified them as Nutri-cereals in April 2018 [2]. The Union Budget 2023-24 renamed them Shree Anna ("revered grain").

They matter because India is the world's largest millet producer [2]. Millets are also a climate-smart crop that fights hidden hunger. India proposed the UN International Year of Millets 2023 [3].

Explanation

What millets are and their types

• Millets are called "coarse grains", but they are very nutritious.
• The Government also calls them dryland cereals. They are part of the wider group of coarse cereals, which also includes maize.
• Coarse cereals together cover about 16.5% of India's cropped area (NCERT, Class 12).
• India grows all nine commonly known millets [2]:
• Major millets: Sorghum (Jowar), Pearl millet (Bajra), Finger millet (Ragi).

• Minor (small) millets: Little (Kutki), Foxtail (Kakun / Kangni), Proso (Cheena), Barnyard (Sawa), Kodo (Kodon).

• Share of India's millet output (2021-22): pearl millet 60%, sorghum 27%, finger millet 11%, small millets 2% [2].

• History: millets are among the oldest crops.
• Millet remains have been found at Mehrgarh (Balochistan, Pakistan), one of the earliest farming sites in South Asia (NCERT, Class 7).
• People also ate millets in the Indus Valley Civilisation [2].

Conditions they need

• Climate: they are staple crops of the dry farmlands of the arid and semi-arid tropics (hot places with little rain).
• Rainfall: in India they grow in states with low to moderate rain, about 200–800 mm a year [2].
• Heat and drought: they can stand heat of up to 50°C and drought [2].
• Soils: they grow fast on poor soils and need few or no fertilisers [2].
• Pests: pests rarely attack them in the field or in storage, so few pesticides are needed [2].
• Water and carbon: they need little water and leave a low carbon footprint (they add little greenhouse gas).

The three major millets: conditions and crop facts

• Jowar (sorghum)
• It covers about 5.3% of the cropped area. It is the third most important food crop by area and output, after rice and wheat (NCERT, Class 10).
• It is the main food crop of semi-arid central and southern India. It grows in moist areas that need little irrigation.
• Season: in the south it is grown in both kharif and rabi. Kharif is the monsoon crop, sown about June–July. Rabi is the winter crop, sown about October–December.

• In the north it is a kharif fodder crop (food grown for animals). Yields south of the Vindhyas are very low.

• Bajra (pearl millet)

• It covers about 5.2% of the cropped area. It is a kharif crop (NCERT, Class 7).
• It grows in the hot, dry north-west and west, on sandy soils and shallow black soils. It survives dry spells.
• It is grown on its own or in mixed cropping, where two or more crops grow in the same field at the same time.
• Its yields have risen in Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat. The reasons are drought-resistant varieties and more irrigation.

• Eight bio-fortified bajra varieties and hybrids were released between 2018 and February 2022 [2]. Bio-fortified means bred to carry more nutrients, such as iron and zinc.

• Ragi (finger millet)

• NCERT calls it a typical dryland crop, meaning a crop grown without irrigation in low-rain areas.
• It grows on red, black, sandy, loamy and shallow black soils. It also does well on hill slopes.
• It is rich in iron, calcium, other micronutrients (minerals and vitamins the body needs in small amounts) and roughage (fibre).

Why they declined and why they are coming back

• The decline:
• The Green Revolution of the 1960s gave seeds, fertiliser and canals mainly to rice and wheat.
• The government bought rice and wheat at MSP (Minimum Support Price) and gave them out through the PDS (Public Distribution System, the network of ration shops).

• Farmers and diets shifted, and millets became "orphan crops". They fell from about 40% of grains grown to about 20% [2].

• Why they are worth growing again:

• Nutrition: they have more protein, fibre, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium and B-vitamins than rice or wheat [2]. This helps fight hidden hunger (a lack of vitamins and minerals even when a person eats enough calories).
• Health: they are gluten-free (gluten is a wheat protein some people cannot digest). They also have a low glycaemic index, meaning they raise blood sugar slowly. This helps against diabetes and obesity [2].

Where it occurs

• In India:
• Main millet states: Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana [2]. Rajasthan leads because of bajra.
• Jowar: Maharashtra (over half of India's output) → Karnataka → Madhya Pradesh → Andhra Pradesh → Telangana. It grows mainly on the semi-arid black-soil Deccan.
• Bajra: Rajasthan → Maharashtra → Gujarat → Uttar Pradesh → Haryana (NCERT, Class 12). It grows mainly on the sandy soils of the dry north-west.

• Ragi: Karnataka → Tamil Nadu → Himachal Pradesh → Uttarakhand → Sikkim → Jharkhand → Arunachal Pradesh. These are southern plateau states plus Himalayan hill states.

• In the world:

• India is the largest producer and the fifth-largest exporter [2].
• India grows more than 170 lakh tonnes. That is about 20% of world output and 80% of Asia's (FAOSTAT, 2019) [2].
• Africa has 68% of the world's millet area and 49% of its output (2019) [2]. The main producing countries are India, Niger, Sudan and Nigeria [2].

• Jowar is grown in 112 countries. Sorghum and pearl millet together make up over 90% of the world's millet area and output [2].

• Programmes:

• International Year of Millets 2023: declared by UNGA resolution A/RES/75/263 on 5 March 2021 [3].
• NFSM–Nutri Cereals runs in 212 districts of 14 states under the Union Ministry of Agriculture [2].
• ICAR-IIMR, Hyderabad (Indian Institute of Millets Research, Telangana) was announced as the Global Centre of Excellence on 18 March 2023 [2].

Don't confuse with

• Coarse cereals vs millets: coarse cereals are the wider group and include maize. Maize is not one of the nine millets. It has the highest yield of all coarse cereals.
• Major vs minor millets: the major millets are jowar, bajra and ragi. Minor (small) millets such as kodo, kutki and sawa make up only 2% of India's millet output [2].
• Largest millet vs most important food crop: bajra is India's biggest millet by output (60%) [2]. Jowar is the third most important food crop by area and output.
• National Year vs International Year: India observed 2018 as the National Year of Millets [2]. 2023 was the UN International Year of Millets [3].

Prelims Hooks

• Order of India's millet output (2021-22): pearl millet (60%) > sorghum (27%) > finger millet (11%) > small millets (2%) [2].
• Largest producing states: jowar – Maharashtra; bajra – Rajasthan; ragi – Karnataka.
• Bajra trap: Class 12 NCERT lists Maharashtra second after Rajasthan. Class 10 NCERT lists Uttar Pradesh second.
• Minor-millet name pairs: Kodo–Kodon, Little–Kutki, Foxtail–Kakun, Proso–Cheena, Barnyard–Sawa [2].
• IYM 2023: UNGA resolution A/RES/75/263, 5 March 2021, adopted without a vote and proposed by India [3]. It was supported by 72 countries [2].
• Nutri-cereals notification: April 2018 [2]. Shree Anna came from the Union Budget 2023-24. The Global Centre of Excellence is ICAR-IIMR, Hyderabad [2].

Mains Points

• Why millets grow where they do (GS-I): their spread follows dry climates and poor soils.
• Bajra grows on the sandy soils of the dry north-west (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana).
• Jowar grows on the semi-arid black-soil Deccan (Maharashtra, Karnataka).
• Ragi grows on the red soils of the southern plateau and on Himalayan slopes.

• All of them avoid canal-irrigated Punjab and the wet east.

• Decline and revival (GS-III):

• Green Revolution support and PDS rice and wheat turned millets into "orphan crops", and their share of grains grown fell from about 40% to about 20% [2].

• The revival rests on MSP increases (bajra rose from ₹1,425 to ₹2,350 per quintal between 2017-18 and 2022-23), NFSM–Nutri Cereals, PM POSHAN (the mid-day meal scheme) and the PDS [2].

• Climate-smart farming (GS-III): millets survive heat up to 50°C. They need little water and few fertilisers or pesticides, and they have a low carbon footprint [2].

• This makes them a cushion for rainfed farmers as droughts and heatwaves become more common.
• They also help save groundwater in areas where it is over-used.

Related concepts

• Coarse cereals
• Jowar
• Bajra
• Ragi
• Maize
• International Year of Millets 2023

Read more

• Coarse cereals and millets: jowar, bajra, ragi, maize