High demand, dip in production push millet prices up 17%
high demand, government push, social media trends and a marginal decline in production has driven up millet prices. Data released last week showed that inflation in ragi and ragi products accelerated in March to 16.6% — the second highest in over six years. The highest was 16.7% in February. «For millet, output has been flattish but higher demand due to several food industries using them has pushed up prices,» said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Bank of Baroda.
Despite the government's push, the area under ragi decreased to 1.04 million hectares in 2023-24 from 1.16 million hectares in 2022-23. According to government data, this led to a decline in production to about 1.39 million tonnes in 2023-24 from 1.69 million tonnes in 2022-23. Ragi inflation has been accelerating in double digits for the past seven months and pace picked up further since January.
Jowar is no exception, either. Although inflation levels eased to 10% in March compared with 12.7% the previous month, the commodity has experienced double-digit inflation since December 2022.
For jowar, both the area under cultivation and production increased marginally. In 2023-24, the production was 4.03 million tonnes against the previous year's 3.81 million tonnes. The acreage increased to 3.65 million hectares from 3.54 million hectares, according to government's data.
Packing a punch
«The consumption of millets is increasing in both snacks and sweets, and this is pushing the prices up,» said Firoz H Naqvi, director of the Federation of Sweets and
