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Producers in these areas are often confronted with limited effective market demand for surplus grains produced. As such, they remain amongst some of the poorest in rural areas.
The poultry industry is already using sorghum and pearl millet to some extent in feed formulations. The sector is also becoming increasingly keen to increase its access to sorghum and pearl millet supplies in the context of shortages of overall energy (grain) components, particularly maize for feed use. One of project’s of ICRISAT has shown that sorghum can replace maize even up to 100 per cent in broiler rations and that the feed cost using sorghum is less than maize-based rations at 15 to 20 per cent discounted sorghum grain price, compared to maize.
The failure of market forces to generate more effective market chains linking sorghum and pearl millet growers with expanding feed demand apart from the low productivity and uncertain levels of production achieved by small-scale producers. In particular, the surplus produced over subsistence needs can be highly variable. The dispersed pattern of production also means that marketing costs can be high when left to individual producers.The transaction costs of collection from individual farmers are high and, hence, non-remunerative to traders. Formal marketing channels do not provide an effective means for private sector access, and informal channels may be constrained.
The project on "Enhanced Utilisation of Sorghum and pearlmillet grains in poultry feed industry to improve the livelihoods of small scale farmers in Asia" is in its third year of implementation. The project has been able to mobilize groups of small-scale sorghum and pearl millet farmers to improve crop productivity, enhance harvesting, bulking, storage and handling practices of sorghum and pearl millet grains. The project has the partnership of universities, private seed companies, input suppliers and farmer groups for effective input delivery mechanisms. Linking farmer groups with poultry feed manufacturing companies and poultry producers to strengthen market systems for the sale of grain. The partners associated with the project are contributing to implement and sustain the project activities. ICRISAT, the project-executing agency (PEA) is liaising, facilitating and coordinating the activities of the coalition partners in the project Under this project, surpluses of sorghum and pearl millet grain are being bulked, stored in the storage structures constructed under the project and graded by farmer groups. The farmers have been linked with appropriate credit institutions such as State Bank of India and State Bank of Hyderabad and the produce is being sold directly to industry. This arrangement has not only ensured the supply of large quantities of grain to meet industrial demand and also increase farmers’ share in the final price of the product. Apart from this the arrangement also strengthen farmer groups’ voice in determining sale price levels, thus avoiding price crashes in favorable production years. Such an arrangement would be a win-win situation for both farmers and the industry. The farmers will have access to assured markets for their crop while the industry would be assured of continuous bulk supplies and assured quality. The project, aims to bridge the gap by engaging smallholder producers more effectively through farmers associations in association with NGOs and private feed manufacturers and seed companies. |
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