Farmers Income-Improving Viability of Small and Marginal Sorghum Farmers inrain-fed areas

摘要

The innovation in any agricultural practices can be brought about if it is beneficial and applicable up to the capacity of the farmers in general. Approximately 60 per cent of the Indian agricultural land belongs to rainfed area, wherein millets are more suitable than any other crops. Several constraints such as preponderance of small and marginal holdings accounting for about 82 per cent of total holdings, imperfect market conditions and lack of backward and forward linkages affect the income levelsof farmers adversely. Sorghum forms the staple food commodity of central and western regions of Maharashtra and Northern regions of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh while pearl millet is mainly consumed in Western States of India mainly Rajasthan and Gujarat. However due to their low demand millets contribute less income to the farmers as well as revenue to the national economy. Despite less productivity and low market value these farmers grow Sorghum for their home consumption. The Millets value chain through Public Private Partnership under the National Agricultural Innovation Project is not merely of intensive cultivation for increasing Sorghum productivity but to add more value to the millets especially Sorghum and ultimately brings benefits to all the stakeholders that will create long term sustainability of the farmers-market-consumers relationship in the value chain. This integrated value chain also gives birth to lots of innovation as the stakeholders consisted of experts in extension (research institutes), promotion (expert private consultants) and marketing (food players). This paper also stressed on the impact of various product developments and marketing intervention of Sorghum technologies that has been developed at DSR, Hyderabad for creating sustainable mechanism of production and also demands of Sorghum.