Blog
Team Social Xleration, 26th October 2023
Millets are an important crop group, which have been grown for many millennia. A staple food item for many communities globally especially in Asia and Africa, they are laced with high nutritional value. Known to be cultivated in more than 130 countries, the major millet varieties include sorghum, pearl millet, and finger millet. This year has particularly brought this crop under the limelight as recognizing its beneficial value, the United Nations designated 2023 as the International Year of Millets (IYOM) based on India’s proposal. India produces 170 lakh tons of millet annually. This makes up for 80 percent of overall production in Asia and 20 percent of the world’s production.
Known to be a source of protein, magnesium, phosphorous, calcium, and folate, millets help in controlling diabetes since they are composed of higher complex carbohydrates, have a low glycaemic index (GI), and take longer to digest. With full of fibers, they have probiotic properties promoting good bacteria in the stomach, thereby improving gut health. It reduces the risk of colon cancer. These fibers also help in reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which is known as the unhealthy or bad cholesterol, and can help raise the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) also referred to as the good cholesterol.
There are several advantages of growing millets over other crops. These benefits include its ability to grow in dry areas with low water availability. Thus, it is highly suitable for Indian conditions as the country has many such areas. For perspective, a kilogram of rice requires 5,000 liters of water to be grown whereas the same amount of different types of millet need just 650 to 1200 liters of water to be produced. Known to release high amounts of nitrogen, they are credited with increasing the land’s fertility. Millet production is known to bring down cultivation costs since they are pest-resistant, so farmers end up saving pesticide costs.
Owing to the benefits stated above, they can contribute positively to attaining different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Within this context, the specific SDGs are SDG 2, which is Zero Hunger, SDG 3 on Good Health and Well-being, SDG 12 related to Sustainable Consumption and Production, and SDG 13 linked to Climate Action. It is also important to cite that around 40 percent of the food grown in the country ends up getting wasted. This is not the case with millets as they do not get ruined easily and can last for a long duration, thus offering food security.
With the many advantages that are associated with this crop, the Government of India has been working towards its growth in the country. In 2018, millets were officially declared as “Nutri-cereals” and were included in the National Food Security Mission. The Union Government also declared 2018 as the ‘National Year of Millets’. Various other initiatives have also come into play. These comprise the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s decision to allow millets to be a part of the POSHAN Scheme, which is aimed at improving the nutritional status of the children in the country.
It was brought to light by the Economic Survey 2021-22 that a Sub Mission of Nutri-cereals is operational in 212 districts in 14 states. Millets have also been included to provide nutritional support under the National Food Security Mission. The country has 500 start-ups linked with the millets value chain. 250 start-ups have been incubated by the National Institute of Millets Research (NIMR) under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana-Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sectors Rejuvenation (RKVY RAFTAAR). Additionally, the government has also increased the minimum support price of millet to promote its production among farmers. Millets have also been included in the public distribution system.
To celebrate the International Year of Millets, Atal Innovation Mission has partnered with the NITI Aayog and come up with four challenges and invited solutions to these challenges for improving the production and availability of millets in the country. These challenges comprise developing solutions to augment millet processing efficiency, coming up with mechanisms for small-scale and affordable decentralized processing, improving the shelf-life, and creating market linkage solutions for better inputs supply, and outputs.
The push for millets is gradually bearing results. The millet production in the country in 2021-2022 grew by 27 percent over the previous year. The exports in the same duration also rose to US$ 34.32 million as compared to US$ 26.97 million in the preceding year. It is now of utmost importance to have long-term maintenance of emphasis on millet production supported by a conducive policy environment, technology development and provision, and creating marketing efficiencies. Only then, the full potential of this promising crop will be fully realized by the country.