The relative importance of sorghum and pearl millet as food grains in Asia is decreasing in terms of cultivated area and production. The same trend is in India except that the productivity of pearl millet is increasing. Generally the above changes can be explained in terms of increasing incomes, change in consumers' preferences and tastes, subsidized supply of wheat and rice through the Public Distribution System (PDS), etc. Despite the decline in their consumption, food use still accounts for a major share, especially of pearl millet. Sorghum is passing a transition stage from mere food and fodder crop to a valued industrial raw material such as feed (in India), sweet sorghum alcohol (in China and Thailand) and forage (in Pakistan). Cotton, groundnut, pulses and castor are the major crops replacing sorghum in many areas. Soyabean is the competing crop, especially in central and western India replacing sorghum. Cotton, sunflower, maize, groundnut, pulses and soyabean are replacing pearl millet. Some factors responsible for replacement of sorghum and pearl millet by these competing crops are low productivity and profitability of sorghum and pearl millet vis-a-vis competing crops, increased irrigation availability and price support to other cash crops. The net returns from irrigated sorghum are up to five times that of dryland sorghum in India, making a pathway for its future commercialization. The investment in R&D and outcome of research from private sector is growing at a faster rate than the public sector. Industrial uses such as animal feed, alcohol production (grain and sweet sorghum), jaggery and syrup (sweet sorghum), processed foods, malt/brewing and red sorghum exports will be the driving forces for commercialization of sorghum and pearl millet. Productivity enhancement (maximization of yields) is the alternative in the absence of prospects of any increase in real prices of output. This will result in lowering per unit cost of production. Thus, yield improvements and value-addition through industrial utilization may enhance the profitability and alleviate rural poverty. Marketing, contract farming and farmer-industry linkages are the niches for commercialization of these crops.
