Developing Millet Varieties in India

Host: Scientists realized that asking farmers to grow millet for their own
good is not enough. They must sell it for cash too.

Bala Ravi: That’s the dilemma. We can’t just be evangelists and tell them. If
tapioca gets more money, then they are poor, they want to have
money, not only money but assured market.

Oliver King: That is why the Swaminathan Foundation especially with reference
to this particular issue they are creating an economic stake in
conservation and it's very important.

Bala Ravi: We want the farmer instead of selling the raw harvest at a low rate,
want to enhance its value by various processing methods by which
we are supply the various machineries We are giving them
capacity, increase the capacity for processing them, train them for
this particular thing and then we have created a market linkage so
that they can bring out their own entrepreneurship and enhance it.

Host: Agricultural scientists in Bangalore are also busy developing millet
varieties to make them more disease resistant and to give them
greater yields.

KT Krishne Gowda: We are developing the production technology. We are trying to
fine tune it, keeping the objective of minimizing the cost and
enhancing the productivity. So the farmer is benefited by growing
this crop.

Host: Experts complain that millet lacks investment

E. G. Ashok: The institutional support is required for production of new varieties
and the development of production packages and also plant
production package.

Krishne Gowda: What is happening is that the rice and the wheat they have been in
the public distribution system, but the force is not there for these
millet crops.

Host: The force is in the public distribution system. It’s a network of
government shops where people can buy subsidized rice but not
millet.

Alok Sinha: More than 98% of the people of India – they eat rice indeed, and it
has been so for centuries. So if the government wants to have a full
security for its citizens then wheat and rice have to be given prime
importance. So therefore wheat and rice is subsidized both for the
farmer who grows it and for the consumer who eats it.

Prof. Swaminathan: We recommended that the food security basket, the public
distribution system should be enlarged, not only wheat and rice but
all the millets. If it's Kolli Hills area or the Namakal as we see
them that public distribution system should include all these grains.

Alok Sinha: Right now, for what are known as coarse grains like millet and
maize, the open market price levels are far above the minimum
support level. It is not true that we neglect millet and other coarse
grains. It’s just that they don’t as of now, because of market price
conditions, need our support.