How has the emphasis on certain crops brought about changes in cropping patterns in recent past? Elaborate the emphasis on millets production and consumption.

Cropping patterns respond to price signals, procurement, irrigation, technology and demand. Over recent decades the emphasis on certain crops has visibly reshaped what Indian farmers grow.

Changes in cropping patterns

• Assured MSP and public procurement of rice and wheat drove a shift toward these water-intensive cereals, especially in the north-west.
• Expansion of irrigation and the Green Revolution package reinforced the rice-wheat monoculture.
• Commercial crops such as sugarcane, cotton and soybean expanded on price incentives, while coarse cereals and pulses lost area.

The consequences include groundwater depletion, soil degradation, monotony of nutrition and skewed regional cropping.

Emphasis on millets

Millets (Shree Anna) are being revived because they are climate-resilient, drought-tolerant, low-water and highly nutritious (rich in fibre, iron and micronutrients). India led the observance of the International Year of Millets, 2023, and promotes them through the National Food Security Mission's Nutri-Cereals component, inclusion in ICDS and the public distribution system, and branding for domestic and export markets.

Rebalancing incentives toward millets and pulses can restore agro-ecological and nutritional diversity.