Impact case study database

Drawing on University of Cambridge research, millet cultivation is being successfully promoted as a heritage agricultural system and a route to both increased food security and sustainable cash-cropping in Inner Mongolia, China. A key intermediary step in this process was designation in 2012 of the Aohan dryland farming system as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) by the FAO. This past development was submitted as impact for the previous REF cycle. Since August 2013, both ongoing research and the results of GIAHS designation are now having a major influence on agricultural practices on the ground in Inner Mongolia. In recognition of this impact, the Aohan Government awarded a medal to Jones in September 2016, honouring him and several others for studying, preserving and developing millet agriculture in Aohan [E1].

The economic impact of a new emphasis on millet cultivation in Aohan is clear from data regarding annual production (in metric tons) by province, which are available from the National Bureau of Statistics of China [E2]. Five of the six provinces that have the highest production of millet in China show only slow growth over the previous decade. However, from 2014 the millet harvest in Inner Mongolia has increased substantially, reaching a peak of 766,200t in 2017, rising from 304,700t in 2013 (Figure 1).

Already in 2014, Chinese news reporting explicitly linked this increase in millet production, together with its associated impact on the wellbeing of farmers, to the Cambridge-based archaeological research of Jones and colleagues [E3]. The price paid to farmers for millet also improved. In September 2012, the purchase price of Aohan millet was CNY1.8/kg (GBP0.18/kg). Two years later, the purchase price of millet rose to CNY4.5/kg (GBP0.46/kg); a special gift of selected millet cost up to CNY80/kg (GBP8.15/kg) (currency conversions match the date of the news article: 23 October 2014) [E3,E4]. Moreover, one can now find well-packed and branded Aohan millet in supermarkets across China; its cultivation has government backing and the importance of millet farming continues to grow in the region, with corresponding improvements in the wellbeing of farmers [E4].

In December 2015, Jones and colleagues were awarded the prestigious Shanghai Archaeological Forum Research Award for their study of the origins and spread of broomcorn and foxtail millets, and resulting impacts on today’s millet farmers [E5]. Looking forward, the global potential of broomcorn millet, including for the European and US markets, is now recognised by agronomists, with explicit acknowledgement of the impact of Jones’ archaeological research [E6].

Figure 1: Millet output per year in six Chinese provinces, from 2008 to 2018, showing change in Inner Mongolia [E2]. Post-2018 data are not available as of December 2020.

Turning to India, the potential importance of millet production, and of other resilient and sustainable agricultural practices documented by archaeology, is being actively promoted by the research of Petrie and colleagues at the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with partners in India. Building on data regarding prehistoric cropping regimes and water management, collected by the Land, Water and Settlement and TwoRains projects, FP4 of TIGR2ESS is promoting the use of millet as a water efficient crop and advocating the renovation of historic ponds and related water collection infrastructure as a route to sustainable water use in the agriculture sector in Punjab and Haryana. This programme for action has now been adopted in Punjab. After engaging with the TIGR2ESS project, including meetings at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in November 2019, the Chief Principal Secretary of the Chief Minister of Punjab (having specific responsibilities for policies and programmes concerning agriculture and rural economy) responded:

Before reaching Cambridge, the question that was being asked was: what has archaeology to do with agriculture? But the questions often raised … about loss of crop diversity and eco-diversity can perhaps only be substantively answered through archaeological evidence that proves what has changed in living things both plants and animal life over a period of time and how? The findings from the TwoRains and TIGR2ESS project research have highlighted the decline in crop diversity over time, and the clear reduction in the range of choice for farmers who historically engaged in very diverse multi-cropping farming. The abandoning of important arid adapted crops like millet is particularly compelling, as such crops might be effectively reintroduced into the farming systems of Punjab to increase diversity and sustainability [E7].

Moreover, in January 2020 a stakeholder consultation on water bodies was held in Ludhiana, Punjab, organized with Punjab Agricultural University, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Centers for International Projects Trust (New Delhi) and the University of Cambridge. It brought together TIGR2ESS researchers, including Petrie and Green, with representatives of the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, Punjab, and other stakeholders to plan for sustainable irrigation practices influenced by archaeological findings [E7,E8,E9]. The Chief Principal Secretary of the Chief Minister of Punjab explains further:

The insights into the decline in the use of village ponds and water tanks that came from the Cambridge visit encouraged me to organise a workshop on village ponds and water bodies, which was held in Ludhiana, Punjab, India. The workshop served to introduce these new insights into India's recent and deeper past to civil servants, policymakers, and stakeholders. In particular, the workshop served as a platform to introduce the archaeological findings to civil servants and researchers who will now be able to work together to identify strategies for renovating village ponds across Punjab, so that they produce a sustainable and manageable water source … [E7].

As a result, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, Punjab, has already (to 3 August 2020) funded 114,663 person days clearing all 884 village ponds in the Ludhiana District, at a cost of INR89,462,311 (GBP911,621 on 3 August 2020). The ponds were made ready to contain monsoon rainwater for the purposes of agriculture, fisheries and recharging groundwater. This major initiative, introduced during COVID restrictions, also provided work for those made unemployed during the pandemic [E10].