THE CONTEXT: The United Nations’ International Year of Millets (2023) and India’s “Shree Anna” initiative have revived interest in forgotten foods even as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022) presses nations to halt species loss by 2030. India, a “mega-diverse” country sheltering ~8 % of global biodiversity on 2 % of land, is therefore uniquely placed to pioneer an era of “biohappiness” — a term coined by M.S. Swaminathan to link ecological security with human well-being.
THE BACKGROUND:
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- Evergreen Revolution: Swaminathan’s paradigm that shifts from yield-centric Green Revolution methods to ecologically balanced, nutrition-secure farming.
- Biohappiness Doctrine: Builds on the “GDP of the Poor” idea, arguing that ecosystem services (water filtration, pollination, carbon sinks) underpin rural livelihoods more than conventional GDP metrics.
- TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity) shows global ecosystem services at ≈ US $125 trillion yr-¹, dwarfing world GDP and signalling the need for natural-capital accounting.
WHAT ARE NEGLECTED AND UNDERUTILISED SPECIES?:
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- NUS are traditional crops—small millets, buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), yams, jackfruit, indigenous legumes—historically sidelined by research, markets, and policy. They are rich in micronutrients, tolerant of abiotic stress, and embedded in local culinary traditions.
WHY CALL THEM “OPPORTUNITY CROPS”?:
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- Nutrient Density: Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) supplies three times the calcium of polished rice, addressing hidden hunger.
- Climate Resilience: Kodo millet yields under < 400 mm rainfall, reducing groundwater stress.
- Low External Input: Buckwheat thrives in acid soils without synthetic fertilisers.
- Biodiversity Conservation: Indigenous legumes fix atmospheric nitrogen, improving soil health.
- Market Potential: Urban demand for gluten-free, low-glycaemic foods is expanding the millet value chain.
DRIVERS OF AGROBIODIVERSITY DECLINE (NORTH-EAST FOCUS):
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- Land-use Change: Forest encroachment for monoculture tea and rubber plantations.
- Knowledge Erosion: Oral ethnobotanical wisdom of Nyishi and Apatani elders fading with migration and schooling gaps.
- Policy Bias: Price support and public procurement skewed toward rice and wheat.
- Environmental Degradation: Shifting rainfall patterns and habitat loss accelerate species extinction.
- Awareness Deficit: Minor millets rarely figure in extension advisories or nutrition campaigns.
IMPACT OF CROP CONCENTRATION ON GLOBAL NUTRITION:
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- Dietary Monotony: Rice–wheat–maize supply > 50 % of plant calories; micronutrient gaps persist.
- Systemic Vulnerability: A climate shock to maize pushes millions into food insecurity.
- Health Burden: Refined-grain dominance correlates with escalating obesity and type-2 diabetes.
POLICY LANDSCAPE IN INDIA:
| Instrument | Salient Feature | Shortfall |
|---|---|---|
| Shree Anna Yojana | Centre of Excellence for millets; export promotion | Minor millets outside MSP ambit |
| State Millet Missions (Odisha, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, etc.) | Cluster-based production & processing; FPO support | Limited coverage of pulses/tubers |
| Public Distribution System Pilot | Millets in TPDS for 212 districts (2024-25) | Logistics & consumer acceptability issues |
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE & BEST PRACTICES:
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- Mexico’s “Chinampa” revival blends wetland conservation with traditional food crops, raising farmer income 30 %.
- Brazil’s Bio-fortification of cassava via Embrapa shows public R&D scale-up for NUS.
- FAO’s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) offers branding and eco-tourism value – India can nominate North-East shifting-cultivation mosaics.
THE ISSUES:
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- Genetic Erosion: Loss of landraces in Kolli Hills after cassava-coffee shift reduces adaptive gene pools for future breeding.
- Fragmented Governance: Biodiversity, agriculture and nutrition housed in separate ministries with weak horizontal coordination.
- Value-Chain Bottlenecks: Lack of primary processing units inflates post-harvest losses of little millet by up to 20 %.
- Skewed Incentives: Electricity subsidies for bore-well irrigation disincentivise dryland crops.
- Consumer Awareness Deficit: Millets perceived as “poor man’s food”; urban demand elastic.
- Benefit-Sharing Disputes: Slow ABS clearances deter bio-prospecting investments.
- Data Gaps: No real-time agrobiodiversity monitoring dashboard; People’s Biodiversity Registers outdated.
- Climate Extremes: Erratic rainfall increases risk even for hardy NUS without resilient seed systems.
THE WAY FORWARD:
| SOLUTION | ACTION POINT |
|---|---|
| MSP Realignment | Extend minimum support price, decentralised procurement and bonus incentives to minor millets and pulses in rain-fed districts; couple with e-NAM integration to guarantee offtake. |
| Agrobiodiversity Mission 2.0 | Launch a Cabinet-level “National Agrobiodiversity & Opportunity-Crop Mission” merging ICAR, NBA and MoFPI efforts; set district-wise landrace restoration targets with outcome-based grants. |
| Decentralised Seed Banks | Support community seed banks under Panchayats, legally linked to Biodiversity Management Committees; provide digital barcoding and climate-risk insurance cover. |
| Value-Chain Infrastructure | Use Agriculture Infrastructure Fund to co-finance solar-powered millet de-hullers, cold-press oil units and FPO-run millet cafés within 5 km of producing clusters. |
| Nutrition-Sensitive PDS | Reserve 10 % of food-grain quota for locally procured millets; integrate with Poshan Tracker so beneficiaries see menu diversity and nutrient dashboards. |
| Behaviour-Change Communication | Launch a “Smart Plates, Smart Planet” media campaign featuring chefs, tribal recipes and GI-tag branding; embed millet cook-offs in PM e-Vidya school curricula. |
| Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) | Pay dryland farmers ₹500/ha for maintaining native landraces and pollinator strips, funded through CSR biodiversity pools and District Mineral Foundation surpluses. |
| Bio-enterprise Incubators | Set up Agri-Start-up hubs in KVKs focusing on NUS-based nutraceuticals, gluten-free bakery lines and climate-resilient seed coatings; target 1,000 start-ups by 2028. |
| Integrated Data Platform | Create a public “India Agrobiodiversity Atlas” using remote sensing and crowdsourced farmer apps to map crop genetic diversity, pests and yields in near real-time. |
| International Collaboration | Seek G20 “Millets-Plus” partnership to share germplasm, finance gene-editing research and co-brand climate-smart grains, leveraging India’s presidency legacy. |
THE CONCLUSION:
Restoring India’s rich but eroding agrobiodiversity is no longer a romanticised rural nostalgia; it is an economic, nutritional and climatic imperative. By marrying traditional ecological knowledge with cutting-edge valuation science, India can script the first large-scale Evergreen Revolution 2.0, securing both planetary and human health.
UPSC PAST YEAR QUESTION:
Q. Explain the role of millets for ensuring health and nutritional security in India. 2024
MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION:
Q. Discuss how mainstreaming Neglected and Underutilised Species (NUS) into India’s food system can advance the goals of climate resilience, nutrition security and rural livelihoods.
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