Characterization of the Pearl Millet Cultivation Environments in India: Status and Perspectives Enabled by Expanded Data Analytics and Digital Tools

Vincent Garin, Sunita Choudhary, Tharanya Murugesan, Sivasakthi Kaliamoorthy, Madina Diancumba, Amir Hajjarpoor, Tara Satyavathi Chellapilla, Shashi Kumar Gupta, and Jana Kholovà

Agronomy; 13(6), 1607; Published: 14 June 2023

Abstract

The cultivation of pearl millet in India is experiencing important transformations. Here, we propose a new characterization of the pearl millet production environment using the latest available district level data (1998–2017), principal component analysis, and large-scale crop model simulations. Pearl millet cultivation environment can be divided in up to five environments (TPEs). The eastern part of the country (Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh) emerges as the only region where pearl millet cultivation has grown (+0.4 Kha/year), with important yield increase (+51 kg/ha/year), and potential surplus that are likely exported. Important reductions of pearl millet cultivated area in Gujarat (−4.5 Kha/year), Maharashtra and Karnataka (−4 Kha/year) are potentially due to economy-driven transition to other more profitable crops, such as cotton or maize. The potential rain increase could also accelerate this transition. With