Millets have been an integral part of our diet for centuries.
In addition to a plethora of health benefits, millets are
also good for the environment with low water & input requirement.
With the aim to create awareness and increase production
& consumption of millets, United Nations, at the behest of the Government
of India, declared 2023 the International Year Millets.
The
Government of India sponsored the proposal for International Year of Millets
(IYM) 2023 which was accepted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The
declaration has been instrumental for the Government of India to be at the
forefront in celebrating the IYM.
PM
Narendra Modi has also shared his vision to make IYM 2023 a ‘People’s Movement’
alongside positioning India as the ‘Global Hub for Millets’
What
are millets:
Millet
is a common term for categorising small-seeded grasses that are often called
Nutri-cereals.
Some
of them are sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), finger millet (ragi), little
millet (kutki), foxtail millet (kakun), proso millet (cheena), barnyard millet
(sawa), and kodo millet (kodon).
An
essential staple cereal crop for millions of smallholder dryland farmers across
Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, millets offer nutrition, resilience, income and
livelihood for farmers, and have multiple uses such as food, feed, fodder,
biofuels and brewing.
Significance
and benefits of millets:
Millets
are nutritionally superior to wheat and rice owing to their higher protein
levels and a more balanced amino acid profile. Millets also contain various
phytochemicals which exert therapeutic properties owing to their
anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. Further, besides being climate
resilient, millet grains are rich sources of nutrients like carbohydrates,
protein, dietary fibre, and good-quality fat; minerals like calcium, potassium,
magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc and B complex vitamins.
Most
importantly, millet production is not dependent on the use of chemical
fertilizers.
Millet
Producing States:
India
produces all the nine commonly known millets and is the largest producer and
fifth-largest exporter of millets in the world. Most of the states in India
grow one or more millet crop species. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana,
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and
Telangana are the major millets producing states.
