Bajra Boosters – Policies promoting millets will not work unless governments address farmers’ incentives

Source: The post is based on the following articles

“Bajra Boosters – Policies promoting millets will not work unless governments address farmers’ incentives” published in The Times of India on 6th February 2023.

“India’s promotion of millets is great but will likely fail” published in the Live Mint on 6th February 2023.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country.

Relevance: About promotion of millets.

News: In the recent budget speech, Finance Minister praised millets as noble food and mentioned the government’s initiatives for the promotion of millets.

What are Millets?

Why promotion of millets deserves a special push?

The modern world is a slave to sugary foods: Glucose is a simple form of sugar. The faster food becomes sugar, the more appealing it is to consumers. Hence, rice and wheat succeeded faster. They have killed or diminished the lives of hundreds of millions of people by injecting them with too much sugar.

On the other hand, millets turn into glucose inside body slowly. This is also why they are considered healthy.

Millets, like rice and wheat, have a high ratio of carbohydrates. But they also have fibre. The amount of fibre present in millet slows the conversion of food into glucose.

Note: After the stomach converts food into glucose and releases it into the bloodstream, the pancreas release insulin, which sends glucose to the cells for energy, reducing the sugar level in the blood. But when a person releases a high amount of glucose into the bloodstream for several years, the cells begin to defy the hormone and do not absorb as much glucose as they are supposed to.

As a result, many destructive things occur. Organs marinate in high blood sugar for hours, which damages them; the excess sugar is eventually converted into fatty acids and stored in the fat cells of various body parts. 

How government is promoting millets?

-In 2013, the government launched a crop diversification programme to shift acreage away from paddy in the original Green Revolution regions, Punjab, Haryana and western UP. Later, the Haryana government even offered a cash subsidy of Rs 7,000/acre to shift cultivation to alternate crops.

What should be done to promote millets?

Inclusion of millets in Public Distribution System and MSP: The government has to guarantee a floor price for millets. This will disincentivise rice and wheat cultivation.

The world’s largest food security scheme covering about 800 million people is giving more attention to rice and wheat. This has to shift in favour of the promotion of millets.