How has the emphasis on certain crops brought about changes in cropping patterns in recent past? Elaborate the emphasis on millets production and consumption.
Approach · directive: “how / elaborate”
What it asks · Explain how policy support for a few crops has reshaped cropping patterns, then elaborate the recent push to produce and consume millets.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- How emphasis on certain crops (rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton) changed cropping patterns in the recent past, and with what consequences
- Elaborate the emphasis on millets: the production side and the consumption side
Open with · Assured procurement and subsidies have tilted the pattern towards rice, wheat, sugarcane and cotton, while hardy, nutritious millets lost area; the push for millets seeks to correct this.
Cover
- Rice and wheat: MSP with assured procurement and subsidised power, water and fertiliser favoured these crops, especially in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh; coarse cereals and pulses lost area.
- Other shifts: sugarcane with assured cane prices in Maharashtra and Karnataka, Bt cotton since 2002, soybean in central India; pulses and oilseeds lagged, leaving import dependence.
- Consequences: groundwater depletion in the north-west, soil fatigue, monoculture, crop-residue burning, nutrition gaps and regional imbalance.
- Millets: jowar, bajra, ragi and minor millets are hardy, need little water and inputs, grow in rainfed areas and are rich in fibre, iron and calcium, so they suit climate-resilient farming.
- Policy push: millets were notified as nutri-cereals in April 2018; a nutri-cereals sub-mission under the National Food Security Mission began in 2018-19; MSPs for millets were raised in 2018-19.
- Consumption side: demand fell as cheap rice and wheat came through the public distribution system; taste habits, processing and shelf life are barriers; value addition, branding, and use in school meals and anganwadis help.
- Way forward: crop-neutral incentives, procurement of millets, research on yields, and linking crops to agro-climatic zones and nutrition.
Close with · Aligning crop choice with agro-climatic zones and nutrition, through MSP, procurement and PDS reform, can save water and improve diets; millets are a practical starting point.
Add value (verified)
- The Economic Survey records that the Government notified millets as nutri-cereals in April 2018 and that a nutri-cereals sub-mission under the National Food Security Mission has run since 2018-19. Economic Survey 2022-23, Chapter 8 (Agriculture and Food Management), Box VIII.2: International Year of the Millets, Ministry of Finance ↗“Given the nutritional value of the millets, the Government notified Millets as Nutri-cereals in April 2018. Under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), millets have been introduced to provide nutritional support.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2018, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 283 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
Assured procurement and subsidised inputs tilted India's cropping pattern towards rice, wheat, sugarcane and cotton, while hardy, nutritious millets lost ground; the push for millets seeks to reverse that.
How emphasis changed cropping patterns
- Rice and wheat: MSP with assured procurement, plus subsidised power, water and fertiliser, made the pair dominant in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, displacing coarse cereals, pulses and oilseeds.
- Other shifts: sugarcane spread in Maharashtra and Karnataka on assured cane prices; Bt cotton after 2002 raised cotton's area; soybean grew across central India; pulses and oilseeds lagged, leaving import dependence.
- Consequences: groundwater depletion in the north-west, soil fatigue, monoculture, crop-residue burning, nutrition gaps and regional imbalance; millets' area shrank as cheap PDS rice and wheat replaced them on plates.
Emphasis on millets: production
- Why: jowar, bajra, ragi and minor millets need little water and few inputs, grow in rainfed and dry areas and withstand heat, which makes them climate-resilient crops.
- Policy: millets were notified as nutri-cereals in April 2018; a nutri-cereals sub-mission under the National Food Security Mission began in 2018-19; MSPs for millets were raised in 2018-19.
Emphasis on millets: consumption
- Nutrition: rich in fibre, iron and calcium, millets can close nutrition gaps that a rice-and-wheat diet leaves open.
- Barriers: taste habits, laborious processing, short shelf life and the PDS bias towards rice and wheat.
- Measures: procurement of millets for the PDS, school meals and anganwadis; value-added products, branding and ready-to-eat forms; awareness campaigns.
Way forward
- Crop-neutral incentives, research on millet yields, and matching crops to agro-climatic zones and nutrition needs.
Aligning crop choice with agro-climatic zones and nutrition, through MSP, procurement and PDS reform, can save water and improve diets; millets are the practical starting point.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.