WHAT IS MILLET?

 Millets are often referred as super food and it's production can be seen as an approach for sustainable agriculture and a healthy world.

Millets in India

• Three major millet crops currently grown in India are jowar, bajra and ragi.
• Along with that India grows a rich array of bio-genetically diverse and indigenous varieties of "small millets" like kodo, kuutki, chenna and sanwa.
• Major producers include Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh ,Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana

Need for Millet Cultivation

• Nutritional security.
• Climate Resilient.
• Economic Security.
• Can tackle Health Issues.

Challenges

• Preference for wheat.
• Increased demand for processed food.
• National security act promoting other grains

Indian Initiatives

• Promoting Millets; The Union Agriculture Ministry in April 2018, declared millets as "Nutri Cereals" , considering their " high nutritive value and "anti -diabetic properties"
• 2018 was national year of millets.
• Increase in MSP ; The government has hiked MSP of millets , which came as a big price incentive for farmers. Further , to provide a steady market for the government has included millet in public distribution system.
• Input support; The government has introduced provision of seed kits and inputs to farmers , building value chains through Farmer Producer Organizations and supporting marketability of millets.
• International initiative; The United Nations General assembly adopted an India sponsored resolution to mark 2023 as the international year of Millets

Way forward

Farming of millets deserves encouragement especially in view of their climate resilience, short cropping duration and ability to grow on poor soils , hilly terrains and with little rain.  Because of their accessibility to poor , they can play an essential role in providing nourishment to people across all income categories and supporting climate adaptation of rainfed farming system.