• Strengthen farmers’ group capacity especially with respect to commercial capabilities e.g., in channeling of inputs, bulking up of outputs, storage and handling, grain sales negotiation and monitoring of credit

• Improve supply chains through economies in bulking of grain, facilitation in its storage and transportation, and enhanced networks of purchasing agencies

• Training of partners on processes of coalition building and bulking, grading, storage and bulk marketing of grains.

Problems, issues and opportunities:

The stagnation of sorghum and pearl millet production in India as well as in other Asian countries is mainly due to a combination of factors on both the supply and demand side. Market demand for food uses of sorghum and pearl millet have declined with growth in incomes and subsequent changes in consumer preferences and taste towards (often more convenience in food preparation) alternative grain staples such as wheat and rice. In India, demand for sorghum and pearl millet for food uses has diminished to a large extent since the Public Distribution System (PDS) which provides subsidized wheat and rice to poorer sections of the society. Supply has been affected by relatively slower increase in productivity compared to competing crops and policy-induced factors. For example, in India, high tariff barriers on edible oils led to substitution of area under coarse cereals including sorghum and pearl millet by oilseeds. The combined effects of supply, demand and policy factors have often depressed sorghum and pearl millet prices in relation to other grains.

At the same time, new alternative markets are emerging for sorghum and pearl millet grain uses. Sorghum (particularly the crop produced in the rainy season) is in the initial stages of entering the commercial chain in both livestock and poultry feed, and in production of alcohol, starch and other products. The experiments have also showed that maize can be replaced by sorghum harvested in rainy season even up to 100%, and that the use of rainy season-produced sorghum in poultry feed rations is more cost effective if sorghum is priced at 15 to 20% discount compared to maize.

The net returns from sorghum production were found to be positive in the project villages in Andhra Pradesh, particularly in normal rainfall years when mold fungi do not affect the grain. By cultivating improved sorghum varieties, farmers realized higher yields and consequently higher profits, while at the same time reducing or maintaining per unit cost of production. Farmers are willing to invest in additional inputs required to cultivate new improved cultivars. Streamlining the input availability through credit and appropriate linkages with private dealers will facilitate their use. The cost of production of sorghum and pearl millet varies from Rs 2.5 to 3 per kg, while the production cost of maize is about 15-20% higher than sorghum and pearl millet in India. Further, water-use efficiency of maize is lower than sorghum and pearl millet.

Among those not producing sorghum and pearl millet, the poor (low income) consumers are the net buyers of grain in India. They are, however, covered under the subsidized public distribution system (PDS), and have access to rice and wheat at prices lower than sorghum and pearl millet prices. Secondly, the use of sorghum and pearl millet in poultry feed will not affect this segment since we do not envisage a significant increase in sorghum and pearl millet prices. Instead it is hoped to maximize revenues through increase in production and reduction in per unit cost of production. What sorghum and pearl millet growers’ need is a stable price above a certain minimum ceiling level and minimization of the large year-to-year fluctuation in price by way of assured market for the produce. In this context, the enhanced market opportunities for sale of sorghum and pearl millet for feed use represent a major opportunity for poor producers of these crops to considerably improve the stability of their incomes and hence livelihood security.