World millet production, at a glance
One country dominates growing it, and barely exports any of what it grows
~38%
India’s share of world millet production, FAOSTAT 2022.
30.9 million tonnes
Total world millet output in 2022.
~0.9%
Share of India’s own millet output that gets exported.
2023
UN’s International Year of Millets, proposed by India.
Who Grows the World’s Millet?
India Grows More Than the Next Five Combined
- Global millet production was 30.9 million tonnes in 2022, per FAOSTAT. India alone produced 11.8 million tonnes, or 38.19% of the world total, more than the next five producers put together.
- Niger ranked second, with 3.7 million tonnes (11.97%), mostly pearl millet grown across its Sahelian farmland.
- China produced 2.7 million tonnes (8.74%), chiefly foxtail and proso millet in its northern provinces. Nigeria produced 1.9 million tonnes, Mali 1.8 million tonnes, and Sudan 1.7 million tonnes.
- India’s own government reports a bigger number, 18.59 million tonnes for 2024-25, because its official “Shree Anna” basket bundles in jowar (sorghum) alongside bajra, ragi, and minor millets, while FAO’s international category counts sorghum separately.
Q1. True or False: India alone produces more millet than the next five producing countries combined.
Q2. True or False: China is the world’s second-largest millet producer.
Why Millet Suits Harsh, Dry Land
- Millets need very little water and few chemical inputs. They tolerate poor, sandy soils that wheat and rice cannot.
- This makes millets a reliable crop as rainfall grows more erratic under climate change, the same rainfall variability covered in The Indian Monsoon: Mechanism and Drivers.
- Millets carry high fibre, protein, iron, and calcium relative to rice and wheat, which matters most where diets are otherwise cereal-heavy and nutrient-poor.
- Developing countries grow about 97% of the world’s millet, almost none of it in wealthy, temperate nations.
Q3. True or False: Millets require heavy irrigation and large amounts of fertiliser to grow well.
Q4. True or False: Developing countries grow about 97% of the world’s millet.
Why Does Millet Matter, and Where Does India’s Crop Go?
A Staple Across the Sahel and Semi-Arid India
- Around 90 million people across Africa’s Sahel belt and north-western India eat pearl millet grain as a daily staple.
- Pearl millet alone is grown on more than 30 million hectares worldwide. Africa accounts for over 18 million of those hectares, Asia for over 10 million.
- That African growing belt sits within the wider Sahel geography covered in The Geography of Africa.
A Huge Producer, a Small Exporter
- India’s millet export orientation is estimated at only about 0.9% of its production. The overwhelming majority is consumed domestically, a sharp contrast to the import-heavy pattern covered in Edible Oil Production in the World, where India is the buyer rather than the grower.
- The UAE takes the largest share of India’s millet exports (about 22.4%), followed by Saudi Arabia (12.7%), Nepal (7.8%), the USA (6.7%), and Morocco (3.8%).
- India proposed declaring 2023 the International Year of Millets. The UN General Assembly adopted the resolution at its 75th session in March 2021, with backing from over 70 countries.
- As of 2025-26, India exported 138.69 thousand tonnes of millets worth about $61.57 million, a rising trend since the International Year of Millets push began.
Think it through, before reading on. India grows nearly four times as much millet as the next-largest producer. Yet it barely shows up among the world’s big grain exporters. Why would a country that dominates production export so little of what it grows?
Show the explanation
Millet has historically been a food-security crop in India, not a cash export crop. Unlike India’s globally significant rice exports, most millet grown domestically stays domestic: it feeds the farmers and regions that grow it, particularly across semi-arid states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, where millet is a dietary staple rather than a surplus crop. Only a small slice, under 1% of output, ever leaves the country, mostly going to diaspora markets in the Middle East and South Asia. Growing the most does not automatically mean exporting the most. It depends on whether the crop was grown to feed the growers or to sell abroad.
Remember the trap. Niger, not China, is the world’s second-largest millet producer. And India grows far more millet than anyone else but exports almost none of it, the opposite pattern from its edible-oil imports.
Quick Q&A
What share of world millet production does India account for?
About 38%, more than the next five producers combined.
Which country is the world’s second-largest millet producer?
Niger, mostly pearl millet across its Sahelian farmland.
Roughly what share of India’s millet output is exported?
About 0.9%; the rest is consumed domestically.
Which country proposed the International Year of Millets, 2023?
India, adopted by the UN General Assembly’s 75th session in March 2021.
Question 1 of 1
Question 1 of 1
Question 1 of 1
Question 1 of 1
Question 1 of 1
Leave a Reply