Andhra Pradesh is closely followed by Gujarat (2,310 kilograms). When it comes to jowar productivity, Andhra Pradesh was much ahead of other states with 3,166 kg. Madhya Pradesh (1941 kg) took the distant second place.
The area under millet cultivation is largely concentrated in Rajasthan (35.5%), Maharashtra (20%), Karnataka (13.3%), and Uttar Pradesh (8.8%). However, the production of millets across states is not commensurate with area under production. The scenario in terms of productivity presents an altogether different picture. Andhra Pradesh having highest productivity in the country is one such example for this trend despite contributing to little area of cultivation compared to Rajasthan, where the millets were sown on about 43 lakh hectares in 2022.
Millets can be a practical option for the farmers to grow in arid and semi-arid regions of the state, including several parts of Rayalaseema and tribal parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh. State officials are observing a revival in consumer interest in millets in recent years with increasing health consciousness.
NABARD Vizianagaram district development manager T Nagarjuna said that millets are generally grown during the gap period between the crop cycles of paddy. “Tribal farmers are taking a keen interest in millet crops. In the general scenario, they do not get any loans or input subsidies for their podu cultivation. Amid these constraints and the lack of irrigation system, the tribals are inclining towards millets as they can be grown with minimal rainfall. They are not even fertiliser intensive,” said Nagarjuna.
The DDM explained how they are encouraging millet cultivation in tribal mandals like GL Puram, Pachipenta, Seethampeta, Kurupam, etc. “We have formed several farmer producer organisations to encourage millet cultivation in the region. A project was taken up in collaboration with RARS Chintapalli to popularise finger millet (ragi) crop,” said Nagarjuna.
NABARD promoted 22 millet-based farmer producer companies in Andhra Pradesh. These FPOs have nearly 9,970 farmers as members.
These FPOs are engaged in millet-based business activities such as input supply, procurement, providing custom hiring services, processing and marketing of the millets, etc.
For instance, an FPO promoted by Sabala (an NGO) in Vizianagaram district leveraged support from a whole range of institutions-Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium, NABARD, Department of Horticulture, Andhra Pradesh Food Processing Society, Millet Network of India, comprehensive revival of millets programme by Agricultural Technology Management Agency, and Agriculture Research Station of the Indian Institute of Millet Research.
Andhra Pradesh has targeted to grow millet crops in about 1.66 lakh hectares in 2023-24 under its millet mission. Andhra Pradesh has started promoting millet cultivation in recent years and wants to significantly increase the quantum of area over the next few years
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