IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ssefpa/v17y2025i2d10.1007_s12571-024-01511-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strengthening the millet economy: lessons from a South Indian case study

Author

Listed:
  • D. J. Nithya

    (M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Taramani)

  • E. D. I. Oliver King

    (M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Taramani)

  • Madhura Swaminathan

    (M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Taramani)

  • P. Yuvaraj

    (M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Taramani)

Abstract

Millets are known for their nutritive value: they are high in protein, dietary fibre, micronutrients and antioxidants. Millets are also drought-resistant crops that can withstand extreme temperatures and be grown in semi-arid regions with poor soils. In India, the area sown to millets has declined for decades and production of millets is less than 20 million tonnes as compared to over 200 million tonnes of cereals. From the late 1990s, the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), based in south India, began a set of interventions in the Kolli hills block, Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu, to conserve millet biodiversity and expand the production and consumption of millets. This paper begins by describing the basic interventions and the impact pathways from these interventions to outputs, outcomes and impact. It then attempts to provide evidence for each of the impact pathways drawing on different types of evidence gathered over the last 25 years of grassroots activities. The paper argues that reversing the decline in millet cultivation is feasible.

Suggested Citation

  • D. J. Nithya & E. D. I. Oliver King & Madhura Swaminathan & P. Yuvaraj, 2025. "Strengthening the millet economy: lessons from a South Indian case study," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 17(2), pages 477-492, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:17:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s12571-024-01511-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-024-01511-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-024-01511-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12571-024-01511-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ravi, S.B. & Hrideek, T.K. & Kumar, A.T.K. & Prabhakaran, T.R. & Mal, B. & Padulosi, S., 2010. "Mobilizing neglected and underutilized crops to strengthen food security and alleviate poverty in india," MPRA Paper 37492, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Frison, Emile, 2010. "Agricultural Biodiversity for Nutrition and Health," 2010: Biodiversity and World Food Security: Nourishing the Planet and Its People, 30 August-1 September 2010 125256, Crawford Fund.
    2. Emile A. Frison & Jeremy Cherfas & Toby Hodgkin, 2011. "Agricultural Biodiversity Is Essential for a Sustainable Improvement in Food and Nutrition Security," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-16, January.
    3. Tian Huang & Anna P. Farmer & Ellen Goddard & Noreen Willows & Fatheema Subhan, 2017. "An ethnographic exploration of perceptions of changes in dietary variety in the Kolli Hills, India," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(4), pages 759-771, August.
    4. Christian Grovermann & K. B. Umesh & Sylvain Quiédeville & B. Ganesh Kumar & Srinivasaiah S. & Simon Moakes, 2018. "The Economic Reality of Underutilised Crops for Climate Resilience, Food Security and Nutrition: Assessing Finger Millet Productivity in India," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-12, August.
    5. Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi & Patrick O’Reilly & Sue Walker & Simon Mwale, 2016. "Opportunities for Underutilised Crops in Southern Africa’s Post–2015 Development Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-16, March.
    6. Stefano Padulosi & Bhag Mal & Oliver I. King & Elisabetta Gotor, 2015. "Minor Millets as a Central Element for Sustainably Enhanced Incomes, Empowerment, and Nutrition in Rural India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-30, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:17:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s12571-024-01511-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.