For many years, India was a major producer of millets but along with it Nigeria and China is the largest producers of millets in the world, accounting for more than 55% of the global production. However, in recent years, millet production has increased dramatically in Africa.
In India, pearl millet is the fourth most widely cultivated food crop after rice, wheat, and maize. It occupies an area of 6.93 million hectares with an average production of 8.61 million tonnes and productivity of 1,243 kg/ha during 2018-19.
Millets are available almost across India, and need very little water for growing. But the awareness of the benefits of millets is still low and this is the reason for the lesser number of players working on value-added millet products in India.
However, we see this increasing in the coming years as many States will start supporting millet cultivation both on account of the benefits and the fact that they need less water. So, we see a slow expansion of millet-based products in the next few years and a big explosion in these products after that.
There are only a handful of players in the branded and/or in the organized sector at the moment. However, it is going to change in the next 12 to 24 months.
It is important to make many foods and beverages more nutritious for consumers through millets and multi-grains. In a country such as India where there is a high incidence of diabetes, millets, being complex carbohydrates with low GI [glycemic index], are indeed wonder grains, and [hence] we see a huge relevance in shifting consumers to millets and millet-based products.