Millets Sector in India: Trends, Role, Challenges, and Way ahead

This paper examines the millets sector in India, emphasizing its potential to address contemporary agricultural challenges and enhance food security. As traditional irrigated lands reach their limits, millets offer a viable alternative due to their resilience to climate change and adaptability to harsh conditions. India, a leading producer and advocate of the International Year of Millets (IYoM-23), is actively promoting the cultivation of millets. Through growth rate analysis and comparative net output return studies, the author identifies critical gaps in current practices, revealing that significant advancements in area expansion, production, productivity, and profitability are needed. The paper proposes comprehensive strategies to overcome these challenges, focusing on research and development, policy support, and the establishment of a robust value chain to fully integrate millets into the agricultural landscape.