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.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- How emphasis on certain crops (rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton) changed cropping patterns in the recent past, and with what ecological and nutritional consequences
- Elaborate the emphasis on millets: the production side (policy, a state model) and the consumption side (nutrition, barriers, demand creation)
Open with · The Shanta Kumar Committee (2015) found from NSSO data that only 6 per cent of farmers sold wheat or paddy to a procurement agency, yet that assured market redrew India's cropping map; two crops gained, millets lost.
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 · The International Year of Millets gave them a global stage; the harder task is at home, moving the MSP-procurement-PDS chain from two crops to the Shree Anna that save water, soil and health.
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.”
- Shanta Kumar High Level Committee (January 2015), citing NSSO 70th round data for 2012-13: only 13.5 per cent of paddy farmers and 16.2 per cent of wheat farmers sold to a procurement agency, together only 6 per cent of all farmers.PIB: Recommendations of High Level Committee on restructuring of FCI (22 January 2015) ↗“Together, they account for only 6 percent of total farmers in the country, who have gained from selling wheat and paddy directly to any procurement agency.”
- The same Committee asked FCI to move to States where farmers suffer distress sales below MSP and holdings are small, such as eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam.PIB: Recommendations of High Level Committee on restructuring of FCI (22 January 2015) ↗“FCI should move on to help those states where farmers suffer from distress sales at prices much below MSP, and which are dominated by small holdings, like Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam etc.”
- CGWB's Punjab assessment: the State's stage of groundwater extraction was 164.42% (GWRA-2017), 165.99% (2020), 163.76% (2022), 165.77% (2023) and 156.87% (2024).CGWB: Dynamic Ground Water Resources of Punjab (assessment summary, 2024) ↗“Stage of Ground Water Extrac- tion (in %) 164.42 165.99 163.76 165.77 156.87”
- PIB (August 2025): the Government of Odisha launched the Odisha Millet Mission in 2017 to revive millets, especially ragi, in tribal areas.PIB backgrounder: Shree Anna for Shreshta Bharat (8 August 2025) ↗“The Government of Odisha launched the Odisha Millet Mission in 2017. It was started as a special initiative to revive millets, especially ragi, in tribal areas. The programme aims to bring millets back to farms and households”
- India's proposal for an International Year of Millets was supported by 72 countries; the UN declared 2023 the International Year in March 2021.New India Samachar (PIB), 1-15 February 2023, cover story on millets ↗“India's proposal was supported by 72 countries and in March 2021 itself, the United Nations declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2018, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 367words · Minimalist IAS
The Shanta Kumar Committee (2015) found from NSSO data that only 6 per cent of farmers sold wheat or paddy to a procurement agency, yet that assured market has redrawn India's cropping map: two crops gained, millets lost. The millets push seeks to correct that tilt.
How emphasis on certain crops changed cropping patterns
- Rice-wheat belt: 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.
- Cash crops: sugarcane spread in Maharashtra and Karnataka on assured cane prices; Bt cotton (2002) and soybean grew; pulses and oilseeds lagged, leaving import dependence.
- Ecological cost: Punjab's stage of groundwater extraction was 156.87 per cent in CGWB's 2024 assessment; soil fatigue, monoculture and stubble burning follow.
- Nutrition cost: millets lost area and plates as cheap PDS rice and wheat replaced them.
- Assured MSP and procurement
- Rice-wheat monoculture
- Falling water table, stubble burning
- Millets and pulses lose area
- Nutrition and import gaps
Emphasis on millets: production
- Climate-smart crop: jowar, bajra, ragi and minor millets need little water, few inputs and withstand heat in rainfed areas.
- Policy: millets were notified as nutri-cereals in April 2018; an NFSM nutri-cereals sub-mission began in 2018-19, and millet MSPs were raised that year.
- State model: the Odisha Millets Mission (2017) set out to revive ragi in tribal areas and bring millets 'back to farms and households'.
Emphasis on millets: consumption
- Nutrition: rich in fibre, iron and calcium, millets close gaps a rice-and-wheat diet leaves.
- Barriers: taste habits, laborious processing, short shelf life and the PDS bias towards rice and wheat.
- Demand creation: India's proposal, backed by 72 countries, made 2023 the International Year of Millets; 'Shree Anna' branding, ready-to-eat products, school meals and anganwadis build habits.
Way forward
- Crop-neutral support: procure millets and pulses for the PDS, and move FCI, as Shanta Kumar advised, to eastern States where small farmers face distress sales.
- Research and zoning: higher millet yields, and crops matched to agro-climatic zones and nutrition needs.
The International Year gave millets a global stage; the harder task is at home: moving the MSP-procurement-PDS chain from two crops to the Shree Anna that save water, soil and health.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
