Millet production in 3 years: Haryana ranks fourth, Punjab at bottom

CHANDIGARH: Haryana ranks fourth in the country in terms of production of millets and has produced more than 11.77 lakh tonnes of millets in the last three years, between 2019-20 and 2021-22.
However, Punjab comes at the bottom of the chart among 20 states with an output of just 320 tonnes during these three years. Neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, on the other hand, produced 4,350 tonnes of millets during this period.Rajasthan tops the country with 48.64 lakh tonnes of millet production, followed by Karnataka (23.99 lakh tonnes) and Uttar Pradesh (22.31 lakh tonnes).
Sharing these details in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Union minister for agriculture and farmers’ welfare Narendra Singh Tomar informed that the overall production of millets in the country during these three years was over 170 lakh metric tonnes. As United Nations has declared 2023 as International Year of Millets, the Union minister shared said the Indian government had also provided $5 lakh to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to support activities related to the International Year of Millets 2023.
To promote millets, the department of agriculture and farmers welfare is implementing a sub-mission on nutri-cereals (millets) under the National Food Security Mission(NFSM) in 212 districts of 14 states since 2018-19, he added.
The central government in the budget for 2023-24 has announced plans to make India a global hub for millet production. The Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR), Hyderabad, is to be supported as a centre of excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the international level.
The agriculture minister added the action plan for the International Year of Millets focused on strategies to enhance production and productivity, consumption, export, strengthening value chain, branding, and creating awareness for health benefits.
Tomar also highlighted that under NFSM, incentives are provided to farmers through states and UTs on crop production and protection technologies, cropping system-based demonstrations, production and distribution of certified seeds of newly released varieties or hybrids, integrated nutrient and pest management techniques, improved farm implements and distribution of seed minikits.
NFSM also supports interventions like formation of farmer-producer organisations (FPOs) for millets, and setting up of centres for excellence (CoE) and seed hubs for nutri cereals. Tomar also informed that during a courtesy meeting with him, the president of Guyana had expressed willingness to provide 200 acres of land for cultivation of millets in Guyana, but a formal proposal was yet to be received.