Cropscapes of change
Analysing the revival of ancient grains in a globalizing India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20182649 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Julie Jacquet (0000-0001-7290-949X, Université Paris Nanterre, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 3-4 |
| Pages | 313-331 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-02 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History and Technology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0734-1512 • E-ISSN: 1477-2620 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/07341512.2025.2553445 |
| OpenAlex | W7128685052 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 29 |
This paper traces the resurgence of millets in India, from their role as staple grains in the drylands of central and southern India to their contemporary rebranding as climate-resilient, health-conscious superfoods. Once sidelined by the Green Revolution’s emphasis on rice and wheat, millets are now promoted by policymakers and embraced by urban consumers as solutions to food insecurity, environmental degradation, and chronic disease. Focusing on Karnataka, the article examines how this revival is shaped by wellness discourse, shifting state policies, and the aesthetics of ethical consumption. Using a cropscape approach, it explores how agricultural histories and food imaginaries are reassembled in service of modern food movements. Yet this revival often echoes earlier techno-solutionist logics, obscuring the structural roots of malnutrition and agrarian distress. As millets are commodified to align with dominant food regimes, they risk losing the practices and knowledges that once sustained them – revealing a central paradox: the more millets are made to fit the future, the further they may drift from their past
Globalization · History of technology · Narrative · Agricultural Economics and Practices · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Social and Economic Development in India
Nutritionism
Food, Morals and Meaning
Introduction of Millets into the Public Distribution System
Nutrition transition in India
From marginalized to miracle
Post-green revolution food systems and the triple burden of malnutrition
Investigating crop processing using phytolith analysis
Commentary
Suicides and the making of India's agrarian distress
This is Not a Boundary Object
Our Grandmother Used to Sing Whilst Weeding
The Mushroom at the End of the World
| Highly cited | No |
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