Enhancing Demand Of Pearl Millet as Super Grain

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is the staple food of majority of \nthe poor and small land holders, as well as a source of feed and fodder for \nlivestock in the rainfed regions of the country. Pearl millet excels all other \ncereals because it is a C4 plant with high photosynthetic efficiency and dry \nmatter production capacity. It requires less inputs, matures in short \nduration and is considered as nutritious food, feed and fodder. It is usually \ngrown under the most adverse agro-climatic conditions where other crops \nlike sorghum and maize fail to produce economic yields. In India, pearl \nmillet is the third most widely cultivated food crop after rice and wheat. It \nis grown on 7.128 million ha with an average productivity of 1132 kg/ha \nduring 2015-16 (Directorate of Millet Development, 2017; Project \nCoordinator Review, 2017). The major pearl millet growing states are \nRajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana which \naccount for more than 90% of pearl millet acreage in the country. Most of \npearl millet in India is grown in rainy (kharif) season (June–September). It is \nalso cultivated during the summer season (February–May) in parts of \nGujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh; and during the post-rainy (rabi) \nseason (November–February) at a small scale in Maharashtra and Gujarat.