Indian farmers gradually relegated millets to the background. The area used for millet farming dropped drastically from 18.5 million hectares in 1961 to just 8.5m hectares in 2019. India's public distribution system or PDS doled out rice and wheat, that's what became popular. It didn't make economic sense to farm millets.
In today’s episode for 6th February 2023, we trace the history of millets in India and explain why it is the buzzword today.