Date: 07/01/2023

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

Key Phrases: International Year of Millets, Nutri Cereals, Millet Fair-cum-exhibitions, Eat Right Melas, Millet Luncheon, drought-resistant crops, Millet Start-ups, National Year of Millets, People’s Movement, low glycaemic index.

Why in News?

• As proposed by India, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets (IYM).
• Prime Minister aims to make IYM 2023 a ‘People’s Movement’ and also to position India as the ‘Global Hub for Millets’.

How has the Indian government taken a lead in spearheading this?

• Rebranding:
  • In April 2018, millets were rebranded as “Nutri Cereals” and the same year, the government declared it the National Year of Millets to generate more production and demand.
• Opening ceremony:
  • On December 6, 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organized the opening ceremony for the IYM 2023 in Rome.
  • A delegation of senior government officials from India also participated.
• Millet Luncheon:
  • The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare last month hosted a special ‘Millet Luncheon’ for the Members of the Parliament, which was attended by the Vice-President and the Prime Minister.
• G20 Meetings:
  • Millets have been made an integral part of the G-20 meetings and delegates will be given a true millet experience through tasting, meeting farmers, and interactive sessions with start-ups and FPOs.
• Promotion through various activities:
  • The Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs has planned 15 activities in January — engaging sportspersons, nutritionists, and fitness experts through video messages, and conducting webinars on millets with leading nutritionists, dieticians, and elite athletes.
• Fairs and exhibitions:
  • The Ministry of Food Processing Industries will be organizing Millet Fair-cum-exhibitions in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh.
  • FSSAI will organize Eat Right Melas in Punjab, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
  • Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and Punjab are scheduled to carry out specific activities for sensitization and promotion of IYM besides conducting millet-centric activities including Mahotsav/melas and food festivals, training of farmers, awareness campaigns, workshops/ seminars, placement of hoardings and distribution of promotional material in January.
• Showcasing the diversity of Indian millets:
  • The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) will be participating in a trade show in Belgium where it will showcase the diversity of Indian millets.
• Global celebration:
  • Indian embassies across more than 140 countries will be participating in the celebration of IYM during 2023 by conducting side events involving the Indian diaspora through exhibitions, seminars, talks, and panel discussions.

The positives of millets:

• Nutrition:
  • 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 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.
• Health:
  • 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.
  • They help in rendering health benefits like reduction in blood sugar level (diabetes), blood pressure regulation, thyroid, cardiovascular and celiac diseases.
• Low input requirements:
  • Additionally, millets do not require high-quality soil to grow and hence can easily cater to the need of the growing population.
  • Millets are hardy and drought-resistant crops. This has to do with their short duration (70-100 days, against 115-150 days for rice and wheat), lower water requirement (350-500 mm versus 600-1,250 mm) and ability to grow even on poor soils and in hilly terrain.
  • They can withstand higher temperatures, making them the perfect choice as ‘climate-smart cereals’.
• Livelihood:
  • Millet’s production has great potential to generate livelihoods, increase farmers’ income and ensure food and nutritional security, not only in India but also in other parts of the world.
  • Unless consumption is increased, the demand will not be generated to motivate farmers for shifting to millets.

Can government policies, (eg MSP) play a role in increasing millet production and use in India?

• Even though the MSP of millets (ragi, bajra, and jowar) has been raised by 80-125 percent between 2013-14 and 2021-22, their combined production has dropped by 7 percent to 15.6 million tonnes during the last eight years.
• While Bajra output has been stagnant, both jowar and ragi production has declined.
• This points to the requirement of policy-level intervention so that farmers get remunerative prices for millets and their returns become higher than that of crops such as paddy.

The export market for Indian millets:

• The $470-million (in 2021) global millets market is projected to register a CAGR of 4.5 percent during the 2021-2026 period.
• APEDA has set a target of $ 100 million in millet exports by 2023-24 from $64.28 million in 2021-22.

Way Forward:

• The International Year of Millets-2023 would provide an opportunity to globally promote millets as nutritious cereals.
• A combination of central funding with decentralised procurement linked to nutrition goals — specifically the eradication of hidden hunger among school-age children — can do for millets what the Food Corporation of India achieved with rice and wheat.
• Accelerating the Incubation of Millet Start-ups is an essential forward linkage for catering to various dynamic segments in domestic and global markets.
• Customer’s mindfulness and the focus on health & well-being should be correctly captured and in demand for superfoods and functional foods should be fuelled with millet-based products.
• Roping in the private sector for inclusive investment will go a long way in taking millets not only a Pan-India but also mainstreaming in export markets as a run-up for the International Year of Millets-2023.

Source: The Hindu BL

Mains Question:

Q. Why is increasing the consumption and production of millet important to India? Discuss in the context of the International Year of Millets 2023.