RA 00015.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

incomes of the least-affluent groups, who spend a
large amount of their incomes on food grains.
Increased real income will enable them to purchase
additional food grains and hence improve
their nutrition. If yield potentials of cereals,
pulses, oilseeds, and other crops could all be
substantially increased, nutritional improvements
will follow as these all have complementary
nutritional compositions. It is not necessary
that any one of the grains have a "balanced
content" of all nutrients — which is the underlying
premise of cryptic quality breeding programs.
People eat more than one food item each
day. Making available additional quantities
of all foods is the appropriate nutritional
strategy. Nutrition education can help
ensure that the correct mix is consumed. It is
unreasonable to expect any one grain to provide
a balanced diet.
M a r k e t i n g Economics
Table 76 shows that the official estimates of
sorghum arrivals in Indian assembly markets as
a proportion of 1972-1973 production are
around 14 percent. For chickpea they are around
26 percent. Increases in production in subsequent
years, together with relaxation of interstate
and intrastate trade restrictions, leads us
to believe market arrivals may have increased.
ICRISAT's "educated guesstimate" of current
market arrivals for sorghum and millets is
around 15 to 20 percent, while for chickpea and
pigeonpea it is between 35 and 40 percent.
Chickpea has shown a strong upward trend in
arrivals at regulated markets since 1969-1970
(Fig 94). Arrivals of rice and groundnuts have
been relatively steady, while wheat, millets, and
sorghum showed increases between 1969-1970
and 1972-1973, followed by downward trends.
World Sorghum and Millet Trends
World demand for coarse grains in the year 2000
is estimated by the World Food Council to be
double or more the demand experienced in 1970.
About one-fifth will be for direct human consumption
and four-fifths will be fed to animals.
In the LDCs (less-developed countries), demand
for coarse grains is expected to triple by the year
Market Surpluses of Food Grains
Access to markets provides a primary incentive
for farmers to adjust farm organization and
cropping patterns to capitalize on the comparative
regional advantages in production of various
enterprises. A study of the research literature and
published data on market participation by Indian
food-grain producers showed that the bulk
of production does not reach formal market
channels. The proportion of production which
reaches the market varies across regions, crops,
and years. Two factors seem to consistently
influence household marketed surplus (production
minus quantities retained for consumption).
Generally the larger the farm production of food
grains, the larger the amount of marketed surplus.
On the other hand, as family size increases,
the amount of farm food grain marketed tends to
fall.
Table 76. Market arrivals (as a proportion of
production) of wheat, rice, sorghum,
and chickpea from villages to assembly
markets.
Year Wheat Rice Sorghum Chickpea
(%)
1960-61 20 NA a NA NA
1966-67
1967-68
20
24
NA
N A
NA
NA
NA
NA
1968-69 29 22 13 27
1970-71 31 26 13 27
1972-73 31 24 14 26
1974-75 25 b 24 b 1 b 35 b
1976-77 30 b 25 b 17 b 37 b
Source: Indian Agriculture in Brief, 9th, 10th, 12th, 13th,
and 14th editions. Directorate of Economics and
Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of
India.
a Data not available.
b ICRISAT estimates.
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