Millet (Setaria italica), also known as the corn, Gramineae green bristle grass (Setaria), said millet bran after shelling, which is originated from the old crop in our country, with resistance to drought, barren resistance, high water use efficiency (Cong et al., 2017), is considered to be important strategic reserve of crop response to future water shortages, 11 provinces or regions in northern China have grown arid and semi-arid area, around 90% of them distributed in poor water or no water conditions of hilly region (Li et al., 2018). In 2008, millet industry was listed as the national modern agricultural industrial technology system, and the central and local governments began to pay attention to and promote the development of millet industry, so as to promote the scientific research and development of China's millet industry to get out of the predicament and step into the track of modern agricultural scientific research (Ma et al., 2016). The cultivated land area in hilly and mountainous areas is 275.9×10³ hm² in Shandong Province, accounting 36.7% of the whole province's cultivated land area, which is mainly distributed in the eastern part of Shandong peninsula and part of central Shandong province. The perennial cultivated area of millet is about 4.5×103 hm², accounting for more than 70% of the total cultivated area of millet in Shandong province (Chen and Guan, 2017, Science, Technology and Economy Guide, (34): 131-133). In order to further broaden the development space of millet industry in hilly areas of Shandong, the status of millet industry and current bottleneck were detailed analyzed in hilly arid areas of Shandong, and put forward some feasible suggestions and countermeasures aiming at the problems to provide references for millet planting in Shandong province, and the all-round development of millet industry.

1 Present Situation of Millet Industry in Hilly Area of Central Shandong

1.1 The natural conditions in central Shandong

The Shandong province is the temperate continental monsoon climate, with hot and rainy seasons, short spring and autumn, long winter and summer, frost-free period of 173~250 days, annual sunshine duration of 2 300~2 900 hours, and effective accumulated temperature of 4 000℃ greater than or equal to 10℃. The abundant light and heat resources is suitable for two systems a year.

The conventional planting of millet in Shandong is from late May to early June, during which the phenomenon of spring drought is more prominent (Sun, 2016). Studies showed that from the 1960s to the present, the annual average temperature in Shandong province has increased by about 0.23℃ per decade, while the precipitation has decreased by about 11.1 mm per decade (Wang, 2017). At present, the annual rainfall of the Shandong province is between 550 mm and 950 mm, and the 60%~70% of the rainfall concentrated in June to August every year, so it easily leads to the phenomenon of water logging in summer and drought in winter, spring and late autumn, which adversely affects the agricultural production in Spring (Xu and Han, 2018; Yang et al., 2018, Journal of Marine Meteorology, 38(3): 57-66; Huang et al., 2019). The province for many years, the average land evaporation is 450~600 mm, (Shandong Provincial Water Resources Bureau; http://wr.shandong.gov.cn/jggk_319/slgk/). Precipitation is basically greater than evaporation, which can meet the needs of some crops (Table 1).

1.2 The summary of the current situation of millet production on the central region of Shandong province

The Central Region of Shandong province is mainly composed of Jinan, Tai'an, Zibo, Binzhou Zouping and other counties and districts (Figure 1). The main terrain is mountainous, hilly and transitional zone, which is an important region connecting east and west and running through north and south of Shandong province. Due to the lack of water irrigation conditions, many plants or fruits with less water demand and drought tolerance are planted. In recent years, due to the structural adjustment of planting structure and people's demand for food abundance, the planting area of millet has increased.

1.3 Main planting areas and cultivation

In recent years, the planting area of millet in Shandong Province was about 4.0×10⁴ hm², and the total yield was over 1.0×10⁸ kg (Table 2). It is mainly concentrated in mountainous and hilly areas such as central and central southern Shandong, such as Zhangqiu, Pingyin, Changqing of Jinan city, Feicheng, Xintai, and Ningyang of Tai'an, Zhoucun, Linzi, Boshan of the Zibo city, Yishui, Feixian, Pingyi of Linyi, and other places. The planting plots were scattered and single the area is small, arid and barren, basically without irrigation conditions. The traditional planting mode is mainly spring sowing or summer sowing, sowing in May to mid-June and harvesting in late September. Spring sowing millet is mostly planted once a year, and summer millet is planted in rotation with wheat, green manure and other crops. The main varieties of millet include 'Jigu 16', 'Jigu 19', 'Jigu 19', 'Zhonggu 2', and local characteristic farm varieties, etc. Most of the seeds of farmers planted in small areas are self-produced and self-used, multi-generation breeding, the specific variety name is not clear, and most of the varieties are degraded, aging, and mixed (Guan et al., 2009).

1.4 The organizational model of millet industry development

In recent years, the yield of millet has gradually increased. And the average yield has increased by about 30 kg compared with the past. The purchase price has also continued to rise. The net income per mu has exceeded 2 000 RMB, which is much higher than the other crops grown in the same period. It has played an important role in increasing the income of millet growers, especially farmers in hilly dry lands and poor areas. At the same time, with the support of policies in Shandong province, the technical support of scientific research forces and the implementation of targeted poverty alleviation strategy in recent years, millet in some production areas has obtained the protection of geographical indications of China’s agricultural products, and launched a series of refined packaging and simplified packaging millet products (Liu et al., 2017, Contemporary Rural Finance and Economics, 11: 50-53), which broadened the sales channels and effectively promoted the alliance between scientific research units and millet production and processing enterprises, forming a certain industrial system. A group of millet agricultural cooperative organizations and processing enterprises represented by “Longshan Gongmi” of Zhangqiu city, Shibali Valley Road of Changqing city, Humen Golden Rice of Feicheng city and Gongmi of Xintai city, etc. have gradually developed and grown and solved the problem. The reemployment of part of the rural labor force has raised the income level of farmers and achieved poverty alleviation in poor villages.

With the transformation of the market economy and the development of characteristic agriculture, the development of the millet industry has become increasingly prosperous, and local governments have gradually begun to pay attention to the development of the millet industry (Li et al., 2015, China Economic and Trade Guide, 11: 8-11), in the millet industry In the long-term development process, a variety of millet industry development organizational models have gradually formed, such as professional cooperative organization-driven, leading enterprise-driven, government-driven, scientific research assistance, and new-type agricultural skills. Different development directions, targeted development, production, processing, and sales of millet.

1.5 Shandong coarse cereals system innovation team drives industrial development

The Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture organized scientific research units such as the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Qingdao Agricultural University, and the prefectural academy of agricultural sciences as the core of scientific research in 2015 in order to adjust and optimize the industrial structure, and vigorously develop and revitalize the whole provincial miscellaneous grain industry. With the participation of key enterprises, the scientific research and industrial workers of grains across the province were gathered to form a grains innovation team for the modern agricultural industry system in Shandong province. At the same time, the provincial agricultural administrative departments and related enterprises were closely integrated to form a "The development model of government and enterprise alliance". In this way, the resource sharing of the entire industry and the effective distribution of tasks have been realized, and a variety of development models such as "leading enterprise+base+farmer", "government+farmer+enterprise", "government+scientific research+farmer (enterprise)" have been derived promote effectively the transformation of the results of the millet industry.

1.6 Targeted poverty alleviation promotes the revitalization of the millet industry

General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that more efforts must be made in precise poverty alleviation and precise poverty alleviation. Specifically, it must be precise in supporting objects, precise project arrangements, precise use of funds, precise measures to households, and precise assignment of people (first secretary) to each village. Effectiveness of poverty alleviation and other targeted poverty alleviation methods, practical measures, and real results. Driven by the targeted poverty alleviation policy, various agricultural science and technology projects and technologies have taken root in rural areas, and the poor households who plant millet in the hilly areas have also been assisted. Supporting measures such as relevant funds and technical services have become increasingly complete. Farmers enthusiasm for planting millet has increased significantly, and the millet industry has developed rapidly.

2 The Bottleneck Restricting the Development of Millet Industry

2.1 Weak scientific research support and unsound industrial chain

At present, the development of the millet industry is still in its infancy. The empirical cultivation management, the lack of scientific and technological guidance for simplified cultivation techniques, the simplification of millet porridge consumption, limited variety cultivation and weak mechanized production methods restrict the development of the millet industry. Especially in hilly and mountainous areas (Lou et al., 2016; Chi, 2017, Rural Science and Technology, 1(8): 33-34). The planting environment restricts the use of some machinery, and the available types of machinery cannot enjoy agricultural machinery purchase subsidies make it difficult to realize mechanization, and there is a serious shortage of scientific research and innovation. At the same time, due to the lack of new technical support, the lack of intensive processing capabilities and the lack of multi-level development products will eventually lead to the disconnection of the corresponding links in acquisition, processing, sales, and consumption, and ultimately lead to insufficient driving force in the millet industry.

2.2 Absence of brand building and poor development of millet culture

In recent years, the development of the millet industry has shown a trend of positive development. Some processing enterprises and professional cooperatives have been established one after another, and the demand for the millet market is gradually expanding. However, due to the lack of publicity, there is still a lack of in-depth development of professional brands in the process of processing and sales. People pay less attention to millet culture and its nutritional value. Researchers have less energy in the connotation of millet culture, which leads to the failure to keep up with industrial development. In addition, the production method is mainly planted by a single farmer and lacks the driving force of related leading enterprises. And the lack of marketing concepts of product operators directly affects product quality and market competitiveness, and restricts the industrialization of millet. There are not many well-known trademarks and brand enterprises in Shandong province, which are comparable to domestic well-known millet processing. Compared with enterprises in Shanxi Qinzhou Huang (Xiaomi) Group Co., Ltd. and Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, there is a big gap (Liu et al., 2017, Contemporary Rural Finance, 11: 50-53).

2.3 The interest linkage mechanism is not perfect

In the industrial development model centered on the government, enterprises, farmers, and scientific research, the linkage mechanism of risk sharing and benefit sharing has not been formed. The current willingness of farmers and enterprises to assume risks is not strong, resulting in a loose benefit linkage mechanism. Most companies still directly purchase millet produced by farmers and put it on the market after rough processing. Not only are the profits of both the seller and the buyer low, but they are also susceptible to market fluctuations. Coupled with insufficient government attention and insufficient scientific research and innovation, most of the agriculture-related enterprises are relatively small and weak, which limits the scale of their agricultural and agricultural cooperation, resulting in industrial disconnection, ineffective transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and hindering the development of the millet industry.

2.4 Policy support is not enough and needs to be in line with large crops

In recent years, the state has provided a certain degree of subsidy support for grain crops, but compared with bulk crops, its support is still weak, such as seed subsidies, agricultural subsidies and other state subsidies on cereal crops. Although in recent years various scientific research projects have provided grain-growing farmers’ cooperatives and farmers with subsidies for some production materials such as seeds, mulching film, fertilizers, and agricultural machinery, they can only increase the enthusiasm of a few farmers. In the long run it cannot effectively solve the bottlenecks and problems of the sustainable development of the miscellaneous grain industry. At the same time, the state’s policy on the millet industry is also insufficient to support relevant enterprises and cooperatives. The related grain planting and processing industries lack a relatively large economic foundation to do well in product development and promotion. Local brands cannot form effective competitiveness and hinder their healthy and orderly development.

3 Countermeasures and Suggestions for Development of Millet in the Hilly Area

3.1 Increase the intensity of targeted poverty alleviation policies

In terms of policies, certain precise preferential measures are given to millet production enterprises, cooperatives, etc., such as implementing a more generous subsidy policy for millet seeds, increasing financial support and industrial insurance support, supporting the development of independent brands, and comprehensively using fiscal, taxation, currency credit, and financial support. Supporting policies such as supervision have strongly promoted the tilt of financial resources to the "millet industry" and encouraged millet agricultural product processing enterprises to use financial leasing for technological transformation and equipment purchase. Postal Savings Bank of China and Rural Commercial Bank should appropriately expand loan quotas and issuance, shorten the procedures for processing, so that production and processing enterprises can get capital in a timely manner, and solve the problem of lack of funds, equipment, and technology for small and medium-sized enterprises (Xu et al., 2013; Guo et al., 2014).

3.2 Establish and improve the benefit linkage mechanism to control development risks

Millet, as a miscellaneous grain crop, is a non-main food crop and is greatly affected by the market environment. The interest linkage mechanism in each link of industrial development is the key to restricting the development of the entire industry. Therefore, a complete millet industry development model and a sound interest linkage mechanism can effectively guarantee orderly development of millet industry. In the development process, it is necessary to pay attention to the coordinated development of industry-university-research and deep-processing chains, based on the current situation of industrial development, vigorously cultivate leading enterprises, build or introduce professional processing enterprises guided by market demand, and realize one-stop service of production, supply and marketing. Build a bridge between them to enhance market competitiveness. Increase the government's support for the millet industry, and actively explore the mechanism for diversifying the risk of catastrophes in agricultural insurance with millet characteristics. Using "Internet+" to improve the efficiency of industrial operations, conduct comprehensive publicity, encourage enterprises and planting cooperatives and farmers to implement an order-based farming model, and promote the integrated development of the millet industry and the secondary and tertiary industries.

3.3 Increasing investment in scientific and technological research and development to improve the level of technological innovation

In the development of millet industry, technological innovation is an "accelerator", and cultivation techniques, breeding levels, and technical evaluation should be developed in a coordinated and synchronized manner (Liu et al., 2011). Therefore, relevant scientific research units should focus on the bottleneck problem that restricts the development of the industry, lead by technological innovation, develop high-quality, high-efficiency millet varieties, and simplify cultivation measures. Based on the development of edible millet, expand the use of hybrid millet for livestock or both humans and animals. scale. At the same time, the millet industry chain should be continuously extended, the value chain should be improved, and the distinctive millet brand should be created to achieve product upgrades and promote the quality and efficiency of the millet industry. In addition, it is also necessary to evaluate and promote the level of postpartum technology in a timely manner, and establish a scientific index system.

3.4 Deeply excavate millet cultural resources and create characteristic cultural brands

Cultural support plays an important role in the healthy development of an enterprise. The more people know about the history, culture, and nutrition of millet, the more enthusiasm for millet consumption will increase. Therefore, it is recommended that relevant experts in the fields of agriculture, culture, and nutrition write popular science articles about millet nutrition and culture to enhance the public's level of knowledge of millet. At the same time, millet production, processing, and sales companies should vigorously promote the nutritional value of millet, and produce health products and nutritional products (Shi, 2015, Human Resource Development, 19: 42; Mao, 2016, Rural Science and Technology, 31: 45), combined with health culture, improve product visibility. In areas with a long history of millet planting, a special millet cultural display area will be set up in combination with local superior resources to attract the public to visit and tour, and "make millet brands". Combined with in-depth excavation and publicity of millet-related allusions, we use folk culture and the advertising effect recorded in ancient books to tell the allusions and stories behind the brand (Ren et al., 2017, Modern Agricultural Science and Technology, 20: 267-268), to make consumption Consumers have unlimited associations, stimulate their desire to buy (Wang, 2020), and achieve economic benefits.

Authors’ contributions

LGQ is the creator and designer of this thesis. He completed the writing of the thesis. CXJ participated in the collection and sorting of documents and data. LGY and ZN participated in the writing and revision of the thesis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgments

This research was co-funded by the Shandong Province Modern Agricultural Industrial Technology System Coarse Cereals Innovation Team "Taian Comprehensive Experimental Station Project" (SDAIT-15-09) and the Tai'an Science and Technology Development Plan Project "Study on the Effect of Millet and Peanut Intercropping on Farmland Productivity and Water and Fertilizer Utilization Efficiency" (2018NS0086)。

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