Minor millets are central to traditional rainfed farming systems of indigenous Gond farmers in Madhya Pradesh. Of the six minor millets grown in India, the most important in Eastern Madhya Pradesh are kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum) and little millet (Panicum sumatrense), known locally as kutki. However, the production area of these cereals has declined more than 50% in the State in the last 20 years as livelihoods have shifted toward wage labor and purchase of subsidized grains of rice and wheat. Farmers now tend to focus their limited time and land on growing paddy and maize but under increasingly drought-prone conditions, they recognize that millets are more reliable.
Minor millets are generally suitable for dry and marginal lands. They have low water requirements and early maturation, which helps them escape drought. Their grains have high fibre content, good protein quality, mineral composition, and nutraceutical values. Because of their accessibility to the poor, they can play an essential role in providing nourishment to people across all income categories and supporting climate adaptation of rainfed farming systems. Nevertheless, weak market channels, low productivity, and difficult processing are constraints to upscale the use of these hardy and nutritious traditional cereals.
A holistic approach addressing multiple bottlenecks in supply and demand of minor millets is being applied in Madhya Pradesh through the project “Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, climate adaptation, and nutrition: Empowering the poor to manage risk". Multiple stakeholders are being consulted and involved to devise value chain interventions for these millets that are pro-poor and gender-sensitive. Led by Action for Social Advancement (ASA), key actions being taken include increasing availability of high quality seed, building collective action, and marketing to raise consumer awareness and demand.
Farmer producer companies are the key institutions being targeted to improve the availability of quality millet seed and to raise the price farmers receive for their grain. Three farmer producer companies in the Project area are being engaged in commercialization of millet seed and grain. Profits from the business are distributed equitably among over 2,500 farmer shareholders in the company, who are mostly women. Typically the millet seed used by farmers in the focal region is of substandard quality—often grain that has been stored for several years that delivers a poor yield. To improve the availability and use of higher quality millet seed, participatory selection of millet varieties and production of high quality seed is being carried out. Local farmers produce the seed, which is purchased by the farmer producer company and marketed locally through their storefronts. In addition to seed, aggregation of millet grain is being organized through the farmer producer companies to reduce the number of middle men between the farmers and consumers to achieve a better price through bulk sale. The farmer producer companies carry out primary cleaning, grading and color sorting, giving farmers a share in the value-added price. A state-level federation of farmer producer companies has been involved in seeking the best possible price for the grain.
Difficult processing is the major challenge that is making rural families turn away from millet consumption. Processing equipment to ease drudgery and increase the quality of processing is a key action being taken to increase rural consumer interest and demand for minor millets. Food fairs and targeted marketing for urban consumers are other activities being pursued to increase consumer awareness and help reverse perceptions of millets as “food of the poor”.
