Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Notice (8): Undefined variable: urlPrefix [APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8]latest-news-updates/is-the-government-marketing-millets-right-ranjit-k-sahu-ravi-shankar-behera-bidyut-mohanty-sibabrata-choudhury-4683875.html"/> LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Is the government marketing millets right? -Ranjit K Sahu, Ravi Shankar Behera, Bidyut Mohanty & Sibabrata Choudhury | Im4change.org
Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Is the government marketing millets right? -Ranjit K Sahu, Ravi Shankar Behera, Bidyut Mohanty & Sibabrata Choudhury
-Down to Earth

India requires policy changes to make millets an effective tool against malnutrition

Nutrient-rich millets, which have been a crucial part of human diet since ancient times, have lost their importance due to globally commercialised agronomic practices to produce more foodgrains. Though awareness has been growing among the public in the recent years about the health benefits of a millet-based diet—high fibre, low carbohydrate, protein-rich and gluten-free—gaps persist on several counts. At the same time, there has been an increase in demand in the urban and semi-urban areas across the globe, including India. The realisation that millets are better suitable to combat the ill-effects of climate change and have a high nutritional value would be an important tool to fight global malnutrition. We conducted a study in Odisha, and the findings reflect the trend across the country. For instance, the agriculture policy of Odisha, with a high tribal population susceptible to maternal and child malnutrition, falls short of commitment towards the promotion of millets, in contrast to the long-term objectives of reducing malnutrition.

Not only has the area under millet cultivation gone down over the past decades, but only a few varieties are grown today. In rural areas, millets are grown in small quantities and mostly for household consumption. The marketing of millets as health food may promote the cultivation of some of their varieties, like ragi. In effect, we may end up with mono-cropping systems based on a few varieties of ragi, leading to a loss of important gene pools of various other millets. Replacing wheat or rice with ragi in mono-cropping patterns will subject the latter to the same problems, like increased reliance on one or few technologies, and susceptibility to various natural and human-made disasters. An indicator of this trend of demand for a single grain was a survey conducted in Bhubaneswar, where ragi is available in major retail stores but other millet varieties, like kodo and kutki, are not. Perceived as “nutrition food”, ragi is preferred by the health-conscious urbanites who procure it from upper class markets—highlighting the clear gap between product demand and availability.

One of the authors interacted with some leading agencies in Odisha and neighbouring Chhattisgarh which work with Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). It appears that these FPOs were formed to organise small and marginal farmers and help them overcome the production and marketing challenges. But despite these efforts, there remains a gap between what is produced by the farmers and what the urban consumer wants.

In 2017, a five-year “Special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas” was launched by the government to promote improved agronomic practices in over 12,000 hectares in 30 blocks of the state with a focus on the southwestern parts that have traditionally cultivated millets. The programme intends to increase millet consumption in households by 25 per cent and increase its production in 120,000 households. The programme also seeks to generate awareness through the display of products in food fairs. However, adibasi mela or tribal fairs organised by the state’s SC & ST development department highlight only a few millets like ragi and ignore others. Despite the fact that Odisha is frequently affected by natural calamities, millet growers are not covered under crop insurance schemes. Millets can be grown in residual moisture from the main crop in the Eastern Ghats and require less inputs in terms of machinery and chemicals. Recent land reforms have initiated a shift to multi-cropping system in traditionally rice-growing areas. But, introduction of modern agroforestry practices in traditional areas of Koraput have not been successful.

We conducted a cost-benefit analysis of three farmers—practicing mixed cropping of millets, pulses and oilseeds; pulses only; and, eucalyptus only. It showed that though the profit seems meagre for the first farmer, it provides for a wholesome diet in terms of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids, besides preventing a migration in search of labour. The second farmer’s apparent higher yield is largely offset by the hidden costs while resulting in dependency on external food supply, and the third farmer’s change in agronomic practice had pushed nearly all his children under the malnutrition trap.

Please click here to read more.