Millet Revolution in Tamil Nadu: Ensuring a Healthy Future Generation

Abstract

One of the earliest foods are millets, which are resistant crops with small seeds that do well in arid climates. The Indian Government has put forward a proposal to the United Nations, suggesting that 2023 should be recognized as the International Year of Millet, in order to encourage the cultivation and consumption of this nutritious grain. Because of their health benefits, millets have been referred to as “nutri-cereals”. The majority of India’s millets are produced as finger millet (Ragi), sorghum (Jowar), and pearl millet (Bajra).Tamil Nadu is eighth among the top ten states in India that produce millet, accounting for 4% of the nation’s millet production in 2021–2022. Examining patterns and instabilities in the area, yield, and output of millets in Tamil Nadu from 2011–12 to 2021–22 is the goal of the current study. There was a significant increase in the area of Jowar with a compound annual growth rate of 7.09 percent, followed by Bajra at 3.00 percent. There was also a significant increase in the production of Jowar and Bajra at 6.15 percent and 5.87 percent, respectively, and a significant increase in the yield of Ragi and Bajra at 68.10 percent and 44.98 percent, respectively, according to the estimated trends in the area, production, and yield of millets using the semi-log function. The Cuddy-Della Valle index affords the best estimates, and instability was found more in the production of Jowar (32.28%), followed by Ragi (32.10%), and less in the area of small millets (9.32%). The decomposition analysis revealed that the yield effect was the principal factor for all varieties of millets; the area effect of Jowar and Ragi was insignificant; Bajra and Small Millets had additional roles to play in the increase of output in the study period.