RA 00048.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

Sorghum Marketing in India
M. von Oppen and P. P. Rao*
India produces around 11.8 million metric tons
(1977/78 average) of sorghum per annum, which
is about 17% of the total world production of
sorghum. India's total area of 16.2 million hectares
under sorghum (1977/78 average) is about
31 % of the total world area under sorghum. Thus
India can be considered a major sorghum producer
in the world; however, its sorghum yields are
about half the world average. Within the SAT
region, India grows 34% of the total sorghum
production. Sorghum forms the staple food of a
large number of people in the semi-arid regions of
India, and it provides 6% of the total caloric intake
per person per day (FAO 1977).
Sorghum straw provides a major share of cattle
feed in India. Thus both sorghum grains and
fodder contribute to the Indian farmers' income,
and efforts to improve the production of sorghum
in India must take into consideration this dual
purpose and utilization of food and fodder of
traditional sorghum in Indian agriculture.
Area and Production
Sorghum contributes about 16% of the area under
total cereals in India (Table 1), but it contributes
only 8% of the total cereal production. Thus
sorghum yields are only about half of total cereal
yields in India.
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, and Karnataka are the major producers
of sorghum in India. These four states together
contribute about 85% of the area under sorghum
(Table 2). While Maharashtra has more or less
continuously expanded its area and production of
sorghum during the past 20 years, the states of
* Principal Economist and Research Technician,
tively, Economics Program, ICRISAT.
respec-
Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, which until
early 1970 followed the same trend, have since
reduced both their absolute area and production
of sorghum. In Karnataka. dramatic decreases in
area under sorghum were observed over the past
10 years, but these were nearly made up by
spectacular yield increases so that production in
this state declined only marginally.
Among the less important sorghum-producing
states the long-run decline in area and production
of sorghum appears to continue, except for Tamil
Nadu and Gujarat for which the figures for
1975-78 indicate a sudden increase in production.
Generally, the picture is that of a long-run trend
towards specialization of certain states in sorghum
production. However, the advances over
the last decade, of high-yielding varieties (HYVs)
particularly suited and adapted to some regions,
have led to partial and possibly temporary reversals
of such trends. It must be anticipated in the
long run, that with increasing commercialization of
Indian agriculture, the past trend of regional
specialization with interregional trade will continue
to locate cropping patterns containing sorghum
in all those areas that have a comparative
advantage for such systems, i.e., primarily the
rainfed areas of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka. 2
1. In 1973, Maharashtra had 7% of its sorghum area
under HYV, and in 1978 this figure increased to 27%.
2. Regions with a comparative advantage are not
necessarily those having the absolutely highest
yields; the comparative advantage for a particular
crop exists where and when the demand price minus
the cost of production gives, relative to other crops,
the comparatively highest return.
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. 1982. Sorghum in the Eighties: Proceedings of the International
Symposium on Sorghum, 2-7 Nov 81, Patancheru. A.P., India. Patancheru, A.P. India: ICRISAT.
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