Millets — rebranded by the Government of India as Shree Anna — have moved from the margins of Indian farming to the centre of policy, nutrition and export conversations. This article explains what millets are, how India’s production, MSP and scheme support have changed, and what the income potential really looks like for a farmer deciding whether to grow them.
What Are Millets — and Why “Shree Anna”? / मिलेट्स क्या हैं — और “श्री अन्न” क्यों?
Millets are a group of small-grained cereals, valued for their nutrition and their ability to grow with minimal inputs. The officially recognised millets include sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra) and finger millet (ragi), plus small millets such as little millet (kutki), kodo millet, barnyard millet (sawa/jhangora), foxtail millet (kangni/kakun) and proso millet (cheena). They are rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, are naturally gluten-free, and have a low glycaemic index — which makes them suitable for people with diabetes and celiac disease. Because their nutritional quality is superior to that of wheat and rice, they are also called “nutritious cereals”.
In March 2021, on India’s proposal and backed by 72 countries, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2023 the International Year of Millets. Domestically, the Prime Minister has said millets shall be known as “Shree Anna”, a name meant to signal the grain’s sacred and nutritional importance. To make India a global hub for Shree Anna, the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), Hyderabad, has been declared a Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the national and international level.
India’s Millet Revival in Numbers / आंकड़ों में भारत का मिलेट पुनरुद्धार
India is the world’s largest producer of millets, contributing 38.4% of global production (FAO, 2023). For 2024-25, the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare’s final estimate puts production at 18.59 million tonnes (185.9 lakh tonnes); PIB, in its August 2025 backgrounder, reported 180.15 lakh tonnes as of July 2025 — an increase of 4.43 lakh tonnes over the previous year. These two figures come from different estimate rounds, but both confirm a broadly rising trend.
Rajasthan produces the most millets, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka. APEDA’s 2024-25 state shares list Rajasthan at 29.86%, Maharashtra 13.62%, Karnataka 12.91%, Uttar Pradesh 12.67% and Gujarat 7.25%. By crop, bajra contributes the largest share of national millet production, followed by jowar, ragi and small millets. The Central Variety Release Committee released 276 millet varieties in 2024-25.
On trade, exports fell from 1,69,049 tonnes worth USD 75.48 million in 2022-23 to 89,164.96 tonnes worth USD 37 million in 2024-25. The trend has since turned: in 2025-26, millet exports stood at 138.69 thousand MT, valued at Rs 543.40 crore (USD 61.57 million), with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, the USA and Morocco as the leading destinations.
Government Support: Missions, MSP and Schemes / सरकारी सहायता: मिशन, MSP और योजनाएं
Cultivation support. The Sub-Mission on Nutri-Cereals under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) — now part of the National Food Security and Nutrition Mission — operates in 28 States and two Union Territories. It funds cluster demonstrations, seed of new varieties and hybrids, farm machinery, water-saving devices and farmer training. The umbrella Krishionnati Yojana has an outlay of ₹8,000 crore for 2025-26, and PM RKVY — which states can use for crop diversification into millets — ₹8,500 crore.
Minimum Support Price (MSP). MSP is fixed for only three millets — ragi, jowar and bajra; the other six officially recognised millets have no declared MSP. For the Kharif Marketing Season 2025-26: ragi ₹4,886/quintal (up ₹596, a 13.9% hike — the largest in percentage terms of any kharif crop); jowar Maldandi ₹3,749 and hybrid ₹3,699 (up ₹328 each); and bajra ₹2,775 (up ₹150). Bajra carries the highest estimated margin over cost of production (63%) among the cereals.
Processing and value chain. The Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Millet-Based Products (PLISMBP) has an outlay of ₹800 crore, of which ₹793.27 crore has been approved for 29 companies (8 large and 21 small/medium units). Eligible products must contain at least 15% millet by weight or volume, be branded in consumer packs, and show 10% year-on-year sales growth. PM-FME, which supports micro food processing units including millet-based products, has ₹2,000 crore for 2025-26. Under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, farmers, FPOs and entrepreneurs can get interest subvention on loans up to ₹2 crore for setting up primary processing units. APEDA leads export promotion, with ₹80 crore allocated for 2025-26.
State missions. At least eleven states — Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh — have launched their own millet missions. Odisha’s Shree Anna Abhiyan (originally the Odisha Millets Mission, launched in 2017) has a total outlay of ₹2,108 crore for 2024-25 to 2026-27 and is implemented in 177 blocks across 30 districts. Haryana’s Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana, extended to bajra from Kharif 2021, compensates farmers up to ₹600 per quintal when market prices fall below MSP. Madhya Pradesh’s Rani Durgavati Millet Promotion Scheme offers an additional ₹1,000 per quintal over MSP for kodo and kutki, plus up to ₹3,900 per hectare.
The Income Potential — and the Reality Check / आय की संभावना — और ज़मीनी सच्चाई
The headline potential is real. Study-level economics show millets can be profitable. A Rajasthan study of bajra in Alwar district found a cost of cultivation of ₹23,858.83 per hectare, gross income of ₹33,358.50 per hectare and a benefit-cost ratio of 1.40 — a profit of about ₹9,500 per hectare. A Budaun (Uttar Pradesh) study of pearl millet reported an average gross return of ₹61,075 per hectare and a benefit-cost ratio of 1.17. In Haryana’s Mahendergarh district, pearl millet showed a B:C ratio of 1.10, though net returns were marginal (about ₹884 per hectare overall) and negative in low-yielding Rohtak.
But national data tell a harder story. A Tata-Cornell Institute study found that millet farmers earn, on average, only 33% and 42% of the profits that wheat and paddy farmers respectively receive; cultivators of pearl millet, sorghum and finger millet receive 33%, 32% and 8.7% of what an average wheat farmer earns. Production costs per quintal for millets have been rising at about 1.2% a year. Analysis in a working paper from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade finds that area under Shree Anna fell from 350.6 lakh hectares in the 1970s to 128.7 lakh hectares in the 2020s, that returns over full cost (cost C2) are negative for jowar, ragi and bajra in most major producing states, and that procurement as a share of marketed surplus fell from 7.2% to 5.6%. Coarse cereals account for just 3.8% of rural and 2.4% of urban cereal consumption. The binding constraint, that paper concludes, is profitability, processing capacity and assured offtake — not awareness.
How Farmers Can Capture More Value / किसान अधिक मूल्य कैसे पा सकते हैं
- Sell to a price floor, not just a market. Register for MSP procurement where your state runs it, and check state top-up schemes — Haryana’s Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana, Madhya Pradesh’s Rani Durgavati scheme, and Odisha’s state bonus on ragi (₹2.10/kg over the ₹42.90/kg MSP in Koraput).
- Add primary processing. De-husking and milling margins are where much of the value sits; PM-FME and the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund are designed to fund this. Marketing infrastructure and cold-chain support reduce post-harvest losses.
- Organise into Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). FPOs improve bargaining power, procurement access and processing scale, and the government supports FPO formation for Shree Anna under NFSM.
- Use low-cost agronomy. Cluster demonstrations, seed of new varieties and Integrated Nutrient Management reduce the cost of production that is squeezing margins.
- Diversify and insure. In rainfed and dryland areas, intercropping and crop diversification reduce the downside of a single crop, and PMFBY insures the standing crop. Bajra is also a dual-purpose grain-and-fodder crop, adding a second income stream.
Key Takeaways / मुख्य बातें
- India is the world’s largest millet producer, contributing 38.4% of global output.
- MSP exists for only three millets — ragi, jowar and bajra; for 2025-26 ragi rose 13.9% to ₹4,886/quintal, the biggest percentage hike among kharif crops.
- Support spans cultivation (NFSM Nutri-Cereals), processing (PLISMBP ₹800 crore; PM-FME ₹2,000 crore) and exports (APEDA).
- The income gap is the core problem: millet farmers earn a fraction of what wheat and paddy farmers make, and returns over full cost are often negative.
- Practical income gains lie in value capture — processing, FPOs and price-floor schemes — not in awareness alone.
Source: PIB, “Empowering India through Millets” APEDA, Indian Millets: https://apeda.gov.in/IndianMillets
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