Explore the role of government policies in the decline of millets cultivation. How do agricultural policies and subsidies influence farmers' choices, and are there instances where millet cultivation is not adequately incentivized?
Government R&D policies have supported crops with more commercial viability (corn & sorghum) ahead of millets. Public investment in crop breeding since the 50s was heavily skewed towards maize. More recently there has been some public investment in sorghum breeding. But for millets, investment in breeding remains very very low. As long as yields are low for millets, commercial viability in industrial utilization for food and feed remains poor.
Government agricultural policies are mainly focused on food security and poverty alleviation through guaranteeing a stable supply and affordable prices of staple agricultural products. However, there should also be policy measures that would support alternative crops and towards diversification including the promotion and production such as of millet crops. To attain sustainability in production a range of policy measures that would support millet producers and its conversion through processing towards a more acceptable high-value commodity should be one of the policy thrusts of the government.
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