Date: 26/11/2022

Relevance: GS-3: Major Crops - Cropping Patterns in various parts of the country

Key Phrases: International Year of Millets (IYOM), value-added products of millets, superfood, alleviate malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency, Nutri Cereals Export Promotion Forum, Poshan Mission campaign, global food security, Decentralised production.

Why in News?

• Government of India had proposed to United Nations for declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets (IYOM). The proposal of India was supported by 72 countries and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets on 5th March 2021.

What are millets?

• Millets are a collective group of small-seeded annual grasses that are grown as grain crops, primarily on marginal land in dry areas of temperate, subtropical and tropical regions.
• Some of the common millets available in India are Ragi (Finger millet), Jowar (Sorghum), Sama (Little millet), Bajra (Pearl millet), and Variga (Proso millet).
• The earliest evidence for these grains has been found in Indus civilization and was one of the first plants domesticated for food.

India’s production:

• India is one of the leading producers of millets in the world with an estimated share of around 41 percent in global production.
• As per FAO, world production of millets in the year 2020 was 30.464 million metric tons (MMT) and India’s share was 12.49 MMT, which accounts for 41 percent of the total millet production.
• India’s top five millet-producing states are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

India’s Exports:

• Share of export of millets is nearly 1% of the total millet production.
• India exports millets products worth USD 34.32 million during 2021-22.
• India’s major millet exporting countries are U.A.E, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Oman, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, U.K and U.S.A.
• The varieties of millets exported by India include Bajra, Ragi, Canary, Jawar, and Buckwheat.
• Exports of millets from India include mainly whole grain and the export of value-added products of millets from India is negligible.
• It is estimated that the millets market is set to grow from its current market value of more than USD 9 billion to over USD 12 billion by 2025.

Benefits of Millet:

• Nutritionally superior to wheat and rice owing to their higher levels of protein with a more balanced amino acid profile, crude fibre and minerals such as iron, zinc, and phosphorous, millets can provide nutritional security and protect against nutritional deficiency, especially among children and women.
• Anaemia (iron deficiency), B-complex vitamin deficiency, and pellagra (niacin deficiency) can be effectively tackled with an intake of less expensive but nutritionally rich food grains like millets.
• Millets can also help tackle health challenges such as obesity, diabetes and lifestyle problems as they are gluten-free, have a low glycaemic index and are high in dietary fibre and antioxidants.
• Millets are Nutri-cereals which are highly nutritious and known to have high nutrient content which includes protein, essential fatty acids, dietary fibre, B-Vitamins and minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, potassium and magnesium.
• They help in rendering health benefits like reduction in blood sugar level (diabetes), blood pressure regulation, thyroid, cardiovascular and celiac diseases.
• Additionally, millets do not require high-quality soil to grow and hence can easily cater to the need of the growing population.
• They can withstand higher temperatures, making them the perfect choice as ‘climate-smart cereals.

Government efforts:

• Public participation:
  • The Agriculture Ministry has been holding programmes to create awareness and a sense of public participation in millets.
• Poshan Mission:
  • Considering the nutritional value of millets, the Centre had notified it as a nutritious cereal in April 2018 and had also been included in the Poshan Mission campaign.
• National year of millets:
  • India declared 2018 as the “National year of millets”.
• Value-added products:
  • Government is also mobilizing start-ups for export promotion of value-added products in the Ready to Eat (RTE) and Ready to Serve (RTS) categories such as noodles, pasta, breakfast cereals mix, biscuits, cookies, snacks, sweets, etc.
• Nutri Cereals Export Promotion Forum:
  • Centre has created the Nutri Cereals Export Promotion Forum to give impetus to the export of potential products, including millets, and to remove the bottlenecks in the supply chain of Nutri cereals.
• Collaborations:
  • The NITI Aayog and the World Food Programme intended to identify and solve the millet production challenges systematically and effectively.
  • The partnership will focus on mainstreaming millets and support India in taking the lead globally in knowledge exchange using the opportunities in the form of the International Year of Millets.

Way Forward:

• The International Year of Millets-2023 would provide an opportunity to globally promote millets as nutritious cereals.
• Millets had increasing relevance in the world today in the backdrop of COVID-19, climate change and conflicts. Millets are important for food security as well as international relations.
• Inclusion in the PDS system:
  • The time has come for the Public Distribution System to shift the focus of distribution programmes from basic calories to providing a more diverse food basket that includes millet to improve the nutritional status of preschool children and women of reproductive age.
• Decentralised production:
  • One of the biggest concerns which had arisen from the Ukraine conflict was the inability of two major food producers. Ukraine was the leading exporter of wheat and the conflict led to escalating food prices, speculation and shortages.
  • De-risking the global economy requires more decentralised production. It requires more self-reliance and certainly a willingness on the part of countries to not only do more for themselves but to help each other out and that is the message of the International Year of Millets.
  • There is a need to encourage the production of millet and even the countries who may not directly be consuming or producing them really to look at it as part of a larger global food security scenario.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. Mention the advantages of the cultivation of millets because of which the year 2023 has been declared the "International Year of Millets" (IYOM) by the United Nations.