Millets and Soil Health: Crop Diversity, Nutrition, and Agricultural Sustainability

The crop grown in a field can have a huge impact on soil health, fertility, and ecosystem balance. Different crops and agriculture systems interact with the soil in many ways. 

For example, monoculture practices, where the same crop is grown repeatedly for a longer time, deplete soil nutrients. ^[1] If precautions are not taken, soil erosion may occur after some time.

We already know what role millet plays in healthy eating. Whether you are having home-cooked meals or craving a snack, millet-based food products are great for every mood because of their superior nutritional significance.

However, did you know they can also restore soil health and help agriculture become more sustainable? Indeed, these versatile crops can help improve soil fertility in a number of ways. Due to their extraordinary growth patterns and fibrous root network, they have a phenomenal capacity to improve soil conditions and preserve soil integrity. Hence, they are essential in bringing degraded land back to the state. ^{[2] [3]}

Moreover, producing multiple millet intercrops could be a good socio-economic policy in developing countries. It would help India become aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) in food production, provide a better mechanism for managing price risk, and increase profitability for our farming community. ^[4]

In this article, we explore how millet can benefit soil fertility and contribute to sustainable agriculture by sustaining agroecosystems.

The Role of Millets in Improving Soil Fertility and Structure

Soil health is highly dependent on agricultural practices. Certain crops remove nutrients from the soil or break down soil structure and cause erosion, while others can reverse this process by improving overall fertility. For example, legumes are known for their ability to fix nitrogen ^[5], and certain cereals may increase soil texture through their root systems.

How can millets help with soil health?

• They are a resilient and sustainable crop variety known for their varied benefits to soil health.
• Ideal for multiple agroecological zones
• It helps farmers sustainably improve their farm’s soil quality.
• Their extensive root systems form a network of channels and pores, which enhances soil aggregation. ^[6]

Now that we have realised the value of millet in natural farming, it is a no-brainer to consider these cereals as apart of our daily balanced diet. Before that, you may self-evaluate your fibre intake with Aashirvaad’s  My Meal Plan Test. It will offer you a personalised balanced eating plan according to your daily nutritional requirements.

In the upcoming sections, we will see how millets help enrich soil structure and support its microbiome, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity. Each one of these factors plays an integral part in developing a balanced and productive soil environment.

If we understand how these factors fit together, we can make more conscious decisions about how to benefit the best out of both the land and our nutritional needs simultaneously.

Millet Crops Enhance Soil Structure

Good soil structure leads to increased water retention, which means there is more potential for nutrient bioavailability in plants.

Millet cultivation provides an opportunity to manage soil nutrients, particularly in semi-arid and arid regions of India where maintaining soil fertility levels is difficult. Let us understand how millet affects the soil structure: ^{[7] [8]}

• Millets can grow in marginal soils with low nutrient value and minimal input.
• Their widespread roots give them a competitive edge by extracting phosphorus even from less fertile soils.
• In this way, the channels and pores of millet root enhance soil aggregation, nutrient acquisition, and soil stability.
• Their root system increases the water-holding capacity, decreases runoff and limits erosion. All of this helps make the soil more resistant to flood and drought. ^[9]

Support Soil Microbiome and Biodiversity ^[10]

The soil microbiome is composed of thousands or millions of different bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms, which are responsible for most processes related to maintaining good soil health and fertility.

Millet root exudates provide food and habitat for soil microorganisms.

• In exchange, these soil microorganisms break down organic matter and release nutrients for plant use. They are also responsible for atmospheric nitrogen fixation and making it available for plant growth.
• Through their low chemical input systems, millets help nourish soil biodiversity, which is vital to nutrient recycling and soil health.
• Additionally, they are home to many soil organisms, including earthworms and beneficial microbes.
• Various soil organisms aid nutrient cycling and pest and disease control. They also minimise the use of synthetic chemicals and support green agriculture. All of these factors help maintain a healthy and robust soil ecosystem.

Carbon Sequestration Benefits ^[11]

• The biggest advantage of growing millets is their capacity to capture and absorb atmospheric carbon and store it in soil.
• When millets grow, they require fewer chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The reduced use of these plays a crucial role in cutting down Green House Gas emissions, particularly nitrous oxide, which is a potent greenhouse gas.
• Millets contribute to the improvement of soil fertility through their biomass, water retention capacity, soil structure, and nutrient availability for future crops.
• So, instead of releasing carbon back into the atmosphere, this sequestered form of carbon helps lessen climate change and also becomes a food source for the soil microbial community.

While we strive to feed our growing population while mitigating climate change, it is time to realise the concerning value of millet-based food in our own diets, too.

 In India, leading food brands like Aashirvaad offer various millet products to promote the consumption of these nutrient-dense grains, which helps support sustainable agriculture. One of our many products, Multi Millet Mix flour, is a blend of five millets: Jowar, Bajra, Ragi, Quiona, and Navane.

 It is an easy way to eat millet regularly. Our millet-based products are gluten-free and high in dietary fibre, which makes them a healthy addition to conscious diets.

The promotion of millet can provide much-needed soil health, support biodiversity, and maintain the balance in our ecosystems for a future where life on Earth is sustainable. 

Intercropping Millets with Other Crops for Sustainable Soil Management 

Global warming and increasing food needs make sustainable agricultural practices more critical than ever. Considering this dual necessity, we need improved management practices. To do so, intercropping millets with other crops could be a convenient and profitable solution to achieve better soil, nutrition, and food security.

While we update ourselves by understanding the functionality of millets in sustainable soil management, we must also not forget to add millet-based foods to our diet,  which shall bring plenty of health benefits to us, including their high fibre content. ^[12]

Read through/further to understand how the functionality of millets improves with sustainable soil management practices.

Aashirvaad, India’s most trusted brand, has created a Digestive Quotient test that allows you to determine your digestive score and plan a fibre-rich diet accordingly. By adopting millet as a part of your diet, you support both improving your digestion and fostering eco-friendly farming.

While improved nutrient cycling and enhanced biodiversity are established benefits of intercropping with millets, this section extends them in more detail.

Understanding Intercropping and its Importance

Intercropping is an age-old practice in Indian agriculture. It is the technique of cultivating two or more crops in one field at a time. This involves cultivating new crops of a different species or subspecies than the previous crop, such as planting legumes after wheat and cereals. ^[13]

The rotation and intercropping of millets is an ideal farming practice to enhance soil diversity thereby reducing their dependence on chemical inputs. ^[14]

Intercropping millets with other crops leads to higher yields and could provide additional benefits in terms of soil management like contributing to stability and resilience of the agroecosystem, ensuring sustained productivity and soil health. This is why it’s necessary, and the million benefits that come with doing so:

1. Nutrient Utilisation

Millet crops have different nutritional requirements, and a fibrous root network allows them to obtain nutrients from the intercropping more efficiently. ^[15] Intercropping significantly enhanced the accumulation of certain minerals in millets. It simultaneously decreased the concentration of potentially toxic elements, thus enhancing the nutrient profile of both millet and the crop involved in intercropping.

2. Biodiversity Enhancement

Intercropping enhances soil biodiversity, crucial for ecosystem stability and resistance against pests and diseases. ^{[16] [17]}.

3. Soil Health Improvement

Intercropping enhances the structure and fertility of soil and helps control soil erosion. It leads to better utilization of soil nutrients and decreases the incidence of pests and diseases ^[18]    

4. Economic Advantage

Intercropping can lead to higher yields and better economic returns for farmers, owing to yield stability and increased crop productivity.  ^[19]

5. Water Conservation

Millets are drought-tolerant and use less water than most crops. Intercropping also aids in using water more efficiently, which has been helpful in water-scarce regions. ^[20]

Practical Considerations for Successful Intercropping

The main objectives of intercropping systems are to safeguard ecological balance, enhance the quantity and quality of yield, and minimise damage caused by biological causes like weeds. While intercropping has several benefits, it is necessary to have certain precautions to maximise its advantage. Some of them are:

1. Crop Selection

Choose compatible crops that complement each other. It should be in terms of growing habits, nutrient needs, and pest resistance. For example, pairing millet with legumes can yield better results. ^[21]

2. Row Arrangement

Implementing various row arrangements, such as alternating rows or mixed planting, can optimise light exposure and resource use.

For example, out of all the intercrops, finger millet (ragi) intercropped with black gram (urad) yielded the highest dry matter. However, the opposite response was observed when red gram (pigeon pea, arhar or tur dal) was intercropped with finger millet.

This happened because red gram’s indeterminate growth created more tillers, and busy growth could impact the development of finger millet and the overall production of dry matter. ^[22]

3. Soil Testing

Conducting soil tests is fundamental to determining nutrient levels, salinity, and pH. This information helps to understand the selection of companion crops and any other necessary amendments. ^[23]

4. Topography

Topographical features also affect crop selection. For example, one may adopt alternate cropping of erosion-promoting crops (millet) and erosion-resistant crops (legumes) on erosion-prone sloping lands. ^[24]

Choosing the Effective Intercrops Combinations with Millet

Selecting appropriate intercrops is very important for maximising its benefits. The following table summarises some of the best intercropping systems, depicting the principal crops and their companion crops with millet across various regions in India.

By implementing these combinations, farmers have enhanced soil health, increased yields, and promoted sustainable agricultural practices for ages. ^[25]

Other than that,

• Over 50% of the yield could be increased by following crop rotation and intercropping for significant crops (ragi, arhar or tur dal, maise, chawli, horse gram or kulthi bean, groundnut, and sunflower). ^[26]   
• Growing cotton, pigeon peas (arhar or tur dal), and millets is a coping strategy in low rainfall areas. It is one of the best strategies that allows farmers to profit. ^[27]

Final Thoughts

It is evident that millet crops could help improve soil health for conservation agriculture and a thriving future for our planet. Given our growing population pressures, intercropping and other eco-friendly agriculture practices are necessary to avoid a food-shortage crisis due to climate change and extract every nutritional value from diminishing top-soil reserves.

Intercropping millets with other crops is an effective practice for sustainable soil management in India. It leverages millets’ unique properties, such as their nitrogen-fixing and disease-suppressive abilities, which benefit soil biodiversity.

In addition, the broad range of crop types leads to a much healthier and diversified diet for both livestock and human consumption. All of this contributes hugely to overall food security and delivers economic benefits to farmers. Hence, for us, incorporating millets in our cropping systems is not merely beneficial but necessary.

Please get in touch with our best nutritionists for more information on a millet diet or dietary recommendations. They will give you expert and personalised advice on adding millet in a manner that benefits your health and positively support your well-being.