essay on international millets day

International Year of Millets 2023 – Know Theme, Significance and Facts

Published by team sy on october 9, 2023 october 9, 2023.

The International Year of Millets 2023 (IYM) has been launched to raise awareness about the nutritional, ecological, and cultural value of millets, a group of small-seeded grasses that have been cultivated for thousands of years. The initiative hopes to promote sustainable farming practices, celebrate the cultural significance of millets, and encourage their consumption as a healthy and sustainable alternative to other grains. Millets are known for their resilience in harsh conditions and are rich in nutrients, making them an important source of nourishment for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

• The IYM aims to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by empowering smallholder farmers, achieving sustainable development, eliminating hunger, adapting to climate change, promoting biodiversity, and transforming agrifood systems.
• It is also expected to create sustainable and innovative market opportunities for many countries around the world.
• The initiative hopes to galvanize interest in millets among various stakeholders like farmers, the youth and civil society, and push governments and policymakers to prioritize the production and trade in these cereals.

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Table of Contents

International Year of Millets 2023 Theme

The theme for the International Year of Millets 2023 (IYM) is “Harnessing the untapped potential of millets for food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture”. The theme reflects the goals of the initiative to raise awareness about the nutritional, ecological, and cultural value of millets, promote sustainable farming practices, and encourage their consumption as a healthy and sustainable alternative to other grains. The theme also highlights the potential of millets to contribute to food security and nutrition, particularly in regions where they are culturally relevant and deeply rooted in Indigenous Peoples’ culture and traditions. The theme emphasizes the need to harness the untapped potential of millets to achieve sustainable agriculture, empower smallholder farmers, promote biodiversity, and transform agrifood systems. Overall, the theme of the IYM 2023 aims to create awareness about the benefits of millets and encourage stakeholders to prioritize their production and trade to promote sustainable development.

What are the millet crops?

Millet is a collective term for several small-seeded grasses that are cultivated as cereal crops. There are several types of millets, including:

• Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum)
• Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana)
• Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica)
• Proso Millet (Panicum miliaceum)
• Barnyard Millet (Echinochloa frumentacea)
• Kodo Millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum)
• Little Millet (Panicum sumatrense)
• Browntop Millet (Urochloa ramosa)
• Guinea Millet (Brachiaria deflexa)
• Teff (Eragrostis tef)

These crops have been cultivated for thousands of years and are an important source of nourishment for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. They are known for their resilience in harsh conditions, making them suitable for cultivation in areas where other crops may fail. Millets are also rich in nutrients, including fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals, making them an excellent source of nutrition.

India’s Role in International Year of Millets (IYM) 2023

The International Year of Millets (IYM) 2023, proposed and sponsored by the Government of India, was accepted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The IYM will be celebrated worldwide, and India aims to position itself as the “Global Hub for Millets” by increasing farmers’ income, generating livelihoods, and ensuring food and nutritional security. Millets are traditional foods for over half a billion people across Asia and Africa and are grown in more than 130 countries, requiring less water and agricultural inputs than similar staples. The global millets market is projected to register a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period between 2021-2026.

The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare in India is using a multi-stakeholder approach to achieve the goals of the IYM, engaging all central government ministries, states/UTs, farmers, start-ups, exporters, retail businesses, hotels, and Indian embassies. Ministries, states, and Indian embassies have been allocated focused months in 2023 to carry out various activities to promote IYM and increase awareness about the benefits of millets for consumers, cultivators, and the climate.

In January 2023, the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of India, will initiate IYM-related activities, such as engaging sports persons, nutritionists, and fitness experts, conducting webinars on millets, promoting through the Fit India App, and more. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries will organize Millet Fair-cum-exhibitions in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh, and FSSAI will organize Eat Right Melas in Punjab, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, among other events.

Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, and Rajasthan will carry out specific activities for sensitization and promotion of IYM. The states will conduct millet-centric activities, such as mahotsavs/melas, food festivals, training of farmers, awareness campaigns, workshops/seminars, placement of hoardings, and distribution of promotional material.

Embassies of India across more than 140 countries will participate in the celebration of IYM during 2023 by conducting side events on IYM involving the Indian Diaspora through exhibitions, seminars, talks, panel discussions, and more. A multi-stakeholder delegation with representatives from DA&FW, APEDA, start-ups, exporters, and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) will showcase the diversity of Indian millets through RTE and RTC millet-based products marketed by Indian companies, B2B, B2G interactions, and more.

The DA&FW urges international organizations, academia, hotels, media, Indian diaspora, start-up communities, civil society, and all others in the millets value-chain to come forward and join hands to revive the forgotten glory of ‘Miracle Millets’ through the grand celebration of International Year of Millets – 2023.

What makes millets a healthier option for consumption? 

As a type of cereal, millets were once considered coarse grains due to their rough texture. While all cereals are rich in carbohydrates, millets are also high in protein, dietary fiber, iron, and calcium compared to rice or wheat. The Indian government declared millets to be a nutrient powerhouse and revealed that research has proven their effectiveness in managing diabetes due to their low glycemic index. To further promote millets, the government renamed them Nutricereals. 

Additionally, millets are considered climate-friendly as they use less water and energy during cultivation and processing and are resistant to extreme heat conditions. Millets, which were once widely consumed, declined in production and consumption after the Green Revolution, which focused on increasing rice and wheat production to address food shortages in India. 

However, there are opportunities for start-ups to invest in millets and promote their consumption. To increase the demand for millets, the government needs to create policies that incentivize their production and educate consumers on their health benefits. Despite an 80-125% increase in the minimum support price of millets in recent years, their production has decreased by 7%. The government also sells coarse grains at cheaper rates than rice or wheat through the Public Distribution System, but the stock numbers show that rice and wheat are in much higher demand.

International Year of Millets and FAO

The International Year of Millets (IYM) is a year-long celebration of the important role that millets play in food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture around the world. The proposal for IYM 2023 was sponsored by the Government of India and accepted by the United Nations General Assembly. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations organized an opening ceremony for IYM 2023 in Rome, Italy, on December 6, 2022.

Millets are ancient grains that have been cultivated for thousands of years and are traditional foods for more than half a billion people in Asia and Africa. They are highly nutritious and require fewer resources, such as water and fertilizer, to grow compared to other crops. They are also adaptable to different environmental conditions, making them an important crop for small-scale farmers and ensuring food security.

The aim of IYM 2023 is to raise awareness of the nutritional and economic benefits of millets and promote their consumption and cultivation. The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare in India has taken a proactive approach to engage all stakeholders, including central government ministries, states, farmers, start-ups, exporters, retail businesses, hotels, and Indian embassies to achieve the aim of IYM 2023 and promote Indian millets globally. Ministries, states, and Indian embassies have been allocated focused months in 2023 to carry out various activities for the promotion of IYM and increase awareness about the benefits of millets for consumers, cultivators, and the climate.

The celebration of IYM 2023 includes a wide range of activities such as millet-centric festivals, food fairs, workshops, seminars, and exhibitions organized by different stakeholders across the globe. This will help in building an inclusive global movement to promote the consumption and cultivation of millets, ensuring food and nutritional security for all.

International Year of Millets 2023 – FAQs

A: The 2023 International Year is dedicated to Millets.

A: The 2023 International Year of Millets is aimed at creating awareness about the multiple benefits of millets and promoting their cultivation and consumption for better nutrition and food security.

A: The International Year of Millets 2023 is a global event declared by the United Nations and will be observed in all countries worldwide.

A: The theme of International Year of Millets 2023 is “Mobilizing Action for Improved Nutrition and Livelihoods.”

A: India proposed the International Year of Millets 2023 to the United Nations in 2018, and it was later adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2021.

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Why 2023 is the International Year of Millets

by Hannah Walhout

Published: 10/05/23, Last updated: 10/06/23

In case you missed it, we’re three-quarters of the way into the International Year of Millets . It’s an official, internationally recognized designation — declared by the United Nations at its 75th General Assembly session back in 2021.

Millets , though among the first plants ever to be domesticated for agriculture, are regularly described as a “forgotten food” — and it’s possible you haven’t been properly introduced. A varied group of 20 or so cereal grasses that produce small, rounded grains, millets are grown and consumed mostly in the Global South , primarily Africa (which produces 55 percent of the global supply) and Asia (accounting for another 40 percent). Some of them are known as “millet” in English — like pearl millet and finger millet, the major varieties in much of the world — while others that the U.N. groups into the millet family, including teff and Job’s tears, have standalone names. They can be eaten as whole grains or used for breads, porridges and fritters, and are a staple crop for an estimated 90 million people .

That number, however, used to be higher, and production has declined as rice , corn and wheat continue to dominate. Even including the more widely cultivated sorghum , which is sometimes included in the millet family, the U.N. reports that millets make up less than 3 percent of the world grain trade . The message for the International Year of Millets: now’s the time to bring them back.

The proposal was spearheaded by India , where the government has worked to reintroduce the crop — an effort aided by sustainable agriculture organizations, including Vandana Shiva’s Navdanya and the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation , which have helped establish community resources like seed-saving cooperatives . With these successes as a lodestar, the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization has been advocating for worldwide research and farmer support; partnering with chefs to spread public awareness; and organizing worldwide events, with millet-focused conferences from Hungary to Kenya to Kuwait to Nebraska. But why millets? And why now?

Small grains, big possibilities

The global food system isn’t working for everybody — in 2022, the FAO placed 45 countries on the spectrum between “severe localized food insecurity” and an “exceptional shortfall” in food supplies. The top-cited factors: high food prices, reduced incomes and widespread climate extremes that impact crops, with total grain production down 2 percent worldwide from the previous year. Some suggest a return to millets could provide relief.

“They are drought resistant and can grow in poor soil,” explains Pierre Thiam , a Senegal-born chef who has dedicated himself to promoting fonio — a type of millet grown around West Africa and the Sahel region. The beauty of millets is that they will thrive almost anywhere, being heat-loving warm-season crops that, depending on the variety, can tolerate floods and exhibit high resistance to insects and disease. Many varieties offer up to 30 times more calcium than rice and are good sources of iron and protein. Thiam also adds that fonio and its millet relatives grow quite quickly, sometimes ready for harvest in a span of two months, “which makes it an important crop in times when others fail to grow.”

One goal of the International Year of Millets is to explore these grains’ potential for feeding large populations amid a changing climate — decreasing their reliance on imports in the process. Beyond the basic right to food security and sovereignty, though, the campaign also highlights millets as a means of improving agricultural livelihoods and creating decent work through regional industries. With enough demand, millets could provide real economic opportunity for smallholder farmers: The cost of production is generally low, and the crops require few inputs, even helping improve soil health . But both public and private sectors will have to invest in sustainable markets, ensuring that supply chains continue to benefit grower communities (and that millets can avoid the boom-bust cycle other “trendy” grains have experienced ).

Creating economic opportunity is a cornerstone of Thiam’s work with Yolélé , the company he founded in 2017, which sources directly from West African smallholder farmers, predominantly women. In addition to recent investments in Mali’s fonio industry , Yolélé recently opened a new processing and export facility in Senegal to aid with distribution around Africa, Europe and the U.S. “We have been consistently solicited by an increasing number of stakeholders or consumers to share Yolélé’s experience,” Thiam says — good news for others hoping to follow their lead.

Sowing diversity at home

The conversation around millets is hardly limited to major producing countries or places with food supply uncertainty. Advocates in the U.S. are hoping the groundswell of attention will help further a millet movement of our own.

Incorporating these cereals into their rotations can offer a range of benefits for farmers, and not just because they can survive the extremes that are throwing the future of other crops into question. “Millet can increase productivity of other crops in a rotation by helping to control weeds, relieve pest and disease pressure and preserve soil moisture,” explains Tayler Reinman, a crop science graduate student in Washington State University’s Sustainable Seed Systems Lab . Varieties like foxtail and Japanese millet are inspiring enthusiasm for use as cover crops , protecting fallow land from extreme heat, dryness or erosion. Millets can also be harvested using the same equipment as for wheat or corn and soybeans .

These crops are not entirely novel in the U.S., though the main consumers here are not getting them at the grocery store: The vast majority of domestically grown millet is used for birdseed or feed and forage for livestock. Proso millet , grown predominantly in the Great Plains, and pearl millet , mostly in the South, are the most significant varieties grown for human consumption. But even if they do show up in the grains aisle — by no means a guarantee — those who aren’t used to cooking them may not know quite what to do with them. “The applications are endless,” Reinman says, “but millets just haven’t yet been integrated into our cultural consciousness.”

Joni Kindwall-Moore, founder of the baking-mix brand Snacktivist Foods , remembers her first millet encounter: “Probably in a bulk bin, probably at my local health food store, probably in the 90s.” At the time, these grains were presented as an alternative to wheat, marketed more toward adherents of a gluten-free or macrobiotic diet. But Kindwall-Moore would rather think of millet as an addition, and a key player in the movement to revive a diverse, robust regional grains system . “We started our company because we wanted to elevate these overlooked, forgotten crops,” she says, “really pushing back on that extinction of food biodiversity that we’ve experienced in the last hundred years.” Still, in seeking out sustainable suppliers, Kindwall-Moore realized just how much work needs to be done.

Because their hulls are quite difficult to digest, millets must be processed to a fairly high standard — but the grains themselves, being very small and rather fragile, have specific processing needs. “Like any grain, there are several steps between the field and the final food product, including seed-cleaning and dehulling,” Reinman explains. But for millet, “this requires specialized equipment that can be difficult for small- to midsize processors to access, especially when they are experimenting with working with this grain for the first time.”

At the moment, Kindwall-Moore says it’s simply not possible to find regional millet dehulling facilities in most parts of the country, and even the larger Midwestern operations “are not willing to work with smaller outside players very much.” Combined with lack of research and industry support, the roadblocks for small-scale growers remain especially high.

Making millet marketable

In 2022, Kindwall-Moore, alongside food systems scholars Jonathon Landeck and Don Osborn, cofounded the North American Millets Alliance in the hopes of “rally[ing] the experts, the evangelizers, the cheerleaders and the curious.” In addition to improved infrastructure — the organization is currently working toward a grant that would fund a dehulling facility in Montana — she sees getting millets into the hands of chefs as key to public awareness and interest. “We’re really hoping that we can follow a trend like quinoa did,” she says. “Quinoa was introduced through chefs, at the food service level, and that is what drove the consumer discovery at the grocery store level.”

Reinman agrees that the keys to creating demand will be “education and exposure,” which she hopes will in turn help reduce the barriers farmers face in processing and distribution and encourage more people to start planting. As part of a project called New Grains Northwest , Reinman is studying the possibilities of proso millet as a viable crop for eastern Washington and the surrounding agricultural regions. “These commercially available varieties…have the potential to really complement the wheat-based cropping systems that dominate” this part of the country, she explains. In addition to its field trials, New Grains Northwest is initiating market research, outreach efforts and even the development of new products, like breakfast bars and pancake mixes.

Many hope the momentum of the International Year of Millets will ripple into people’s home-cooking habits. “Interest in millets is definitely growing,” says Thiam, who has helped spread the U.N.’s millets message as a chef ambassador . If you find your own interest piqued, it’s important to remember that millets are a broad category and that the grains sometimes look or behave differently, so always familiarize yourself with what you’re buying. For rookies, fonio can be a gateway (“it cooks in five minutes and is quite versatile”), and Thiam has already documented its many culinary possibilities in 2019’s “ The Fonio Cookbook: An Ancient Grain Rediscovered ” — potentially the first major cookbook release focused entirely on millet, but hopefully not the last.

When seeking out domestically grown products, you’ll find that an ingredient listed simply as “millet” is usually proso millet. Its grains are larger than fonio, but proso is also easy to work with and can be used in a variety of ways — try the grain bowl recipe, below, from Love & Lemons creator Jeanine Donofrio — and makes an easy substitute for rice. Organic options are available online, including through regional mills like Great River Organic Milling and Camas Country Mill ; in the grocery store, Bob’s Red Mill offers both flour and whole grains. Millets are also showing up in gluten-free products, from beers — especially in Colorado , where most proso millet is produced — to bread products, like Snacktivist’s mixes or the whole loaves from Simple Kneads .

“There are more brands coming in, slowly,” says Kindwall-Moore. “But they’re coming, thank God, because we need more of us doing this.”

Recipe: Carrot-Ginger Grain Bowl

Jeanine Donofrio, “ The Love & Lemons Cookbook ”

Ingredients

10 small heirloom carrots 8 ounces (225 grams) extra-firm tofu, cut into cubes Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling ½ teaspoon (2 milliliters) sriracha 2 cups (500 milliliters) mixed greens 2 cups (500 milliliters) cooked millet ⅓ cup (60 milliliters) chopped carrot greens ½ cup (75 milliliters) chopped almonds 1 recipe carrot-ginger sauce* 1 small avocado, diced Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).
• Use a vegetable peeler to peel 3 carrots into ribbons. Save any leftover carrot pieces for roasting.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut the remaining 7 carrots vertically in quarters and arrange on the first baking sheet along with any leftover carrot pieces. Place the tofu cubes on the second baking sheet. Toss the carrots and tofu cubes with a drizzle of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. The carrots should still have some bite to them.
• Remove the tofu from the oven, toss it lightly with sriracha, and return it to the oven for 2 more minutes.
• Toss the salad greens with the cooked millet, carrot greens, almonds, a third of the carrot-ginger sauce, and a few pinches of salt.
• Assemble the bowls with the millet salad, roasted carrots, carrot ribbons, tofu, avocado, and pepper. Serve with the remaining carrot-ginger sauce on the side.

* Recipe: Carrot-Ginger Sauce

1 cup (250 milliliters) chopped raw carrots 1 garlic clove ¼ cup (60 milliliters) extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) tahini 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) minced ginger 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) fresh lemon juice Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a blender, puree the carrots with the garlic, olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, ginger, and orange juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Reprinted with permission from “ The Love & Lemons Cookbook: An Apple-to-Zucchini Celebration of Impromptu Cooking ” by Jeanine Donofrio. Avery, 2016.

Top photo b y  askaflight/Adobe Stock. 

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International Year of Millets

Last updated on January 27, 2023 by ClearIAS Team

The United Nations declared the year 2023 as the International Year of the Millet, following a proposal by India, which wants to position itself as a global hub for millet. Millets have historically been part of the Indian subcontinent for centuries. Read here to know more about it.

As the global agrifood systems face challenges to feed an ever-growing global population, resilient cereals like millets provide an affordable and nutritious option, and efforts need to be scaled up to promote their cultivation.

The United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session in March 2021 declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023).

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the lead agency for celebrating the Year in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders.

Table of Contents

International year of millets 2023

International year of millets 2023 will be an opportunity to raise awareness of, and direct policy attention to the nutritional and health benefits of millets and their suitability for cultivation under adverse and changing climatic conditions.

The Year will also promote the sustainable production of millets while highlighting their potential to provide new sustainable market opportunities for producers and consumers.

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International Year of millets provides a unique opportunity to:

• raise awareness of, and direct policy attention to the nutritional and health benefits of millet consumption
• the suitability of millets for cultivation under adverse and changing climatic conditions
• creating sustainable and innovative market opportunities for many countries around the work for millets to benefit farmers and consumers globally.

IYM 2023 hopes to galvanize interest in millets among various stakeholders like farmers, the youth, and civil society and push governments and policymakers to prioritize the production and trade of these cereals.

Millets encompass a diverse group of cereals including pearl, proso, foxtail, barnyard, little, kodo, browntop, finger, and Guinea millets, as well as fonio, sorghum (or great millet), and teff.

They are an important source of nourishment for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

They are deeply rooted in Indigenous Peoples’ culture and traditions and help guarantee food security in areas where they are culturally relevant.

India, Nigeria, and China are the largest producers of millet in the world, accounting for more than 55% of global production.

Significance of millets

• Millets can grow on arid lands with minimal inputs and are resilient to changes in climate. They are therefore an ideal solution for countries to increase self-sufficiency and reduce reliance on imported cereal grains.
• Millets can play an important role and contribute to our collective efforts to empower smallholder farmers, achieve sustainable development, eliminate hunger, adapt to climate change, promote biodiversity, and transform agri-food systems.
• Greater millet production can support the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and can provide decent jobs for women and youth.
• The revenue created can boost economic growth. With the possibility of a healthy cereal alternative with millet, the risks associated with production shocks can be mitigated.
• Millets include various nutrients and minerals essential for the human body, hence increasing intake will aid in enhancing people’s health in India and worldwide.
• Dietary fiber found in millet helps regulate blood pressure and sugar levels.
• Millets are hardy crops against disease/pests and are also grown as trap crops in Oilseed and Pulses for control of disease and pest management. Therefore, they require lesser support for chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides.
• Even though there has been an increase in millet’s popularity since Covid, there is still a long way to go. Millets must be produced more to increase their consumption and satisfy future demand.

India for International Year of Millets

Millets were among the first crops to be domesticated in India with several evidence of its consumption during the Indus valley civilization .

Being grown in more than 130 countries at present, Millet is considered traditional food for more than half a billion people across Asia and Africa.

In India, millets are primarily a Kharif crop , requiring less water and agricultural inputs than other similar staples.

• India produces all the nine commonly known millets and is the largest producer and fifth-largest exporter of millets in the world.
• Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana are the major millets producing states.
• Before the Green Revolution , millets made up around 40 percent of all cultivated grains, which has dropped to around 20 percent over the years.

Millets are important by the virtue of their mammoth potential to generate livelihoods, increase farmers’ income and ensure food & nutritional security worldwide.

Recognizing the enormous potential of Millets, which also aligns with several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , the Government of India has prioritized Millets.

• In April 2018, Millets were rebranded as “Nutri Cereals”, followed by the year 2018 being declared as the National Year of Millets, aiming at larger promotion and demand generation.
• The global millets market is projected to register a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period between 2021-2026.

The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has taken a proactive multi-stakeholder engagement approach (engaging all the central government ministries, states/UTs, farmers, start-ups, exporters, retail businesses, hotels, Indian Embassies, etc.) to achieve the aim of International Year of millets 2023 and taking Indian millets globally.

• Ministries, states, and Indian embassies have been allocated focused months in 2023 to carry out various activities for the promotion of IYM and increase awareness about the benefits of millets for the Consumer, Cultivator, and Climate.
• Embassies of India across more than 140 countries will be participating in the celebration of the International Year of Millets during 2023 by conducting side events on IYM involving the Indian Diaspora through exhibitions, seminars, talks, panel discussions, etc.

Millets are also 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.

Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millets Promotion (INSIMP) was launched in 2011-12 to demonstrate improved production and post-harvest technologies in an integrated manner.

The government also has hiked the Minimum Support Price of Millet, which came as a big price incentive for farmers.

Way forward

Over the years, the consumption of millets has declined, and the area under production has been replaced with commercial crops, oilseeds, pulses, and maize.

Commercial crops are profitable, and their production is supported by several policies through subsidized inputs, incentivized procurement, and inclusion in the Public Distribution System .

This has resulted in changes in dietary patterns with preferential consumption of fine-calorie-rich cereal.

But the time has come to recognize the importance of millet and create a domestic and global demand along with providing nutritious food to the community.

Previous year question

• Concerning ‘Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millets Promotion’, which of the following statements is/are correct? (2016)
• This initiative aims to demonstrate the improved production and post-harvest technologies and to demonstrate value addition techniques, in an integrated manner, with a cluster approach.
• Poor, small, marginal, and tribal farmers have a larger stake in this scheme.
• An important objective of the scheme is to encourage farmers of commercial crops to shift to millet cultivation by offering them free kits of critical inputs of nutrients and micro irrigation Equipment.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

-Article written by Swathi Satish

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[Explainer] Why is 2023 the International Year of Millets? What do we achieve by celebrating such years?

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• Millets, hardy dryland crops grown in Asian and African countries, are gaining popularity for their nutritional qualities. The UN is celebrating 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
• Commemorations such as these draw attention to lesser-known topics, in this case crops. They also foster a global exchange of ideas, research and development as well as bolster trade.
• After 2013, the International Year of Quinoa, the superfood rose in popularity and is grown across the world. Researchers say sudden rise in popularity benefited farmers, but also resulted in a boom-and-bust cycle. There are concerns the same could happen to millets.

When India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Union Budget in February 2023, she referred to millets as “ shri anna ” or the best of all grains. Her rebranding of millets – often derogatorily referred to as the ‘poor man’s grain’ and listed as a neglected and underutilised crop species not long ago – was accompanied by the promise of government funding for the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR), which was established in 1958 . Though there is no clarity on the amount of funding, Sitharaman said IIMR will become a centre of excellence and a global hub for millet research and development.

This and other efforts around promoting millets are linked to the UN’s declaration of 2023 as the International Year of Millets.

So how does a neglected crop, which all but vanished from our plates, make a comeback?

What are millets? Why are they suddenly popular?

Millet refers to several varieties of small-seeded grasses that are cultivated as grain crops. Amongst these, pearl millet (bajra), finger millet (ragi) and sorghum (jowar) are the most popular. Pearl millet accounts for close to half the global millet output . Minor millets include foxtail, barnyard, proso and others. These crops are grown in marginal and dry lands in several countries in Asia and Africa, with India being the world’s largest millet producer .

The sudden global fame of this coarse grain can be traced back to March 2021, when the United Nations (UN) General Assembly at its 75th session declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYM2023).

Jacqueline Hughes, Director General of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), says, as the world becomes increasingly aware of the negative impacts of climate change, millets are gaining attention as “future crops”. ICRISAT led the technical session at the launch of the IYM2023 at FAO in Rome in December 2022, and recently hosted a global conference on transformations of drylands.

Hughes explained in an email interview with Mongabay-India, that millets are adapted to the drylands and can grow in very difficult conditions. Since they are hardy, salinity-tolerant, and can grow in drought-prone environments with poor soils, even in temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius, they minimise the risk to farmers and communities.

Staple crops such as rice, wheat and maize can’t solve the crisis of micronutrient deficiency. Millets, on the other hand, are known to have a range of nutritional benefits, says Israel Oliver King, Director, Biodiversity at the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation ( MSSRF ).

Hughes added that millets are gluten-free, low glycaemic index, and a range of nutritional benefits.

Millets were once grown as traditional crops in several countries like China, Japan, India, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and several other Asian and African countries.

Yet, if you haven’t ever eaten millets or heard of them, it is because over the last century rice, wheat and maize have ruled the world – and our plates. In India, experts say the Green Revolution eliminated food diversity and reduced the importance of millets in our farms and plates. Globally too, millets have lost their importance to rice, wheat and maize, which together account for 89% of the world’s grain production .

Millets once accounted for about a third of India’s food basket but has seen a drastic decline in consumption, Hughes says. In the last few decades, per capita consumption of millets dropped by 83% in rural and 77% in urban areas.

Tara Satyavathi, Director of IIMR says, as policy makers forgot millets, funding for research and development shrunk. Millets didn’t see the growth and popularity which rice, wheat and maize did in the 20th century.

“Many people have lost the tradition of consuming millets even if they might be from countries that originally consumed millets,” Makiko Taguchi, Agricultural Officer, Agricultural Officer, Plant Production and Protection Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told Mongabay-India in a Zoom interview. This includes taking stock of the history and the traditions around millets.

“Production and consumption need to go hand in hand, but the first [step] is to really get the public’s attention of what the benefits of millets can be,” she says.

Hughes points to recent work by ICRISAT, the National Institute of Nutrition in India and other partners that has found that regular consumption of millets can lower the risk of diabetes and obesity, improve cholesterol levels, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

IYM2023 hopes to increase the attention and interest for millet consumption, says Taguchi. Through that, support for small scale producers in many different developing countries can be improved, and better livelihood opportunities could be provided.

Read more: Shift to coarse grains from rice for healthy, environment-friendly diet: study

What is the International Year of Millets?

International observances (day, weeks, years, or even decades) bring attention to the importance of a topic, Taguchi explains. Generally, a member nation makes a proposal to the UN through a relevant agency, such as the FAO in case of millets.

India’s proposal to FAO went through internal approvals before being presented at the UN General Assembly and was approved with the support of 71 countries. India is the Chair, and Nigeria and ICRISAT are the Vice-Chair of the FAO International Committee for the International Year of Millets.

While this is a UN-wide event, because millets fall under food and agriculture, the FAO is the corresponding implementing agency coordinating with relevant technical experts, several UN member countries and representatives from all regions, and stakeholders such as academia, private sector, and civil society.

The IYM2023 consolidates and pushes for global cooperation to promote millet in various ways.

As King points out, the seeds of IYM2023, were sown increasing research interest in neglected crops in the last century. Parallelly, the ICRISAT, ICAR, IIMR, MSSRF and other institutes have conducted research and development on millets for decades. The Indian government too started taking notice in the last few years, and rebranded millets as nutri-cereals in 2018 .

Even as area under millet cultivation dropped by 56% drop in India, production increased from 11.3 to 15.3 million tonnes, Hughes points out. This was due to the development and adoption of improved varieties and hybrids, and better crop management practices. Overall, millet productivity has increased by more than two times, and pearl millet productivity has tripled.

Is there an example that such observances can yield lasting results?

One of the most famous food fads of recent times is quinoa, which rose to global fame as a superfood thanks in part to the International Year of Quinoa 2013 (IYQ2013). Quinoa too was a neglected and underutilised crop and was grown in 50 countries before 2013. After IYQ2013, this number grew to over 123 countries. This staple from the Andean region, is now grown in diverse climatic zones. Like millets, quinoa too is climate resilient, can improve nutritional security and an alternative to wheat and rice. However, experts have identified a boom and bust cycle when crops like quinoa rise into prominence suddenly.

King, who co-authored a research paper published in Global Food Security in 2022, says once economically developed nations learnt of quinoa’s nutritional importance, there was a sudden increase in consumer demand triggering a rise in prices. There was rapid land-use change resulting in a production increase. This boom was followed by a bust, a rapid decrease in prices, and subsequently, production.

There was also a lot of pull-pressure on Andean communities to grow a certain white variety of quinoa, he says. There are over 6,000 quinoa varieties, but many brown and black varieties were neglected as the market prefers a certain colour and size. This influences breeding and growing preferences.

“It is not the choice of the people who grow it, it is the choice of people who eat and trade in it,” he says. With millets, this can be fixed by focussing on diversity based on farm-based and community centric mechanisms.

“We want countries to maintain their tradition and their production,” Taguchi emphasises, adding that with millets one of the important focus areas has been to understand diverse food cultures and traditions, genetic diversity of millets grown in specific environments, and “to really celebrate those different types of millets and the ways in which they are used around the world.” Some ongoing programmes as part of IYM2023 is an ongoing global Chef’s challenge to cook with millets to promote this.

What’s after the IYM2023?

Satyavathi says that continued policy support is crucial, and so is more funding for research and development of various aspects including germ plasm research, productivity and storage, post-harvest technology and value-added products. The research and development scenario, as well as demand for and supply of millet products is improving.

Nutrihub , a startup incubator at IIMR, has supported over 500 entrepreneurs and companies to work on post-harvest technology, value-added millet products, among other things. ICRISAT, through the HarvestPlus-supported biofortification program, biofortified varieties of millets with high iron and zinc content.

In India, restaurants are serving millet dishes, mainstream brands such as Tata have a line of millet products under the brand called Soulfull, and several public sector canteens have started serving millets too.

King adds that several states like Karnataka and Odisha have promoted millets, many have included it in mid-day meals.

Recently, the Indian embassy in China had a line up of events for diplomats to discuss and dine over millets, the Economic Times reported .

As Taguchi says, in the long term, the hope is that there is enough interest from around the world, including governments and stakeholders to create a community of practice, research and development-focused groups.

To avoid a repeat of what happened with quinoa, King says regardless of technological and production growth, the diversity farm and plates needs to come through community centric models. “The fear is that a particular fashion of approaching this, in terms of promoting specific technology – whether it through seeds, processing facilities, or export strategy – should not kill the diversity on farms.”

Read more: There’s bajra in my beer! Craft breweries experiment with millets in beer

Banner image: A woman winnows pearl millet. Photo by Alina Paul-Bossuet (ICRISAT)/Flickr.

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Millets – good for people, the environment, and farmers

Millets are resilient cereals that can provide an affordable and nutritious option and help guarantee food security. They are also deeply rooted in Indigenous Peoples’ culture and traditions. The United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session in March 2021 declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023) with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ( FAO ) as the lead agency.

Why are millets a smart food?

Millets encompass a diverse group of cereals including pearl millet, proso millet, foxtail millet, barnyard, kodo, browntop, finger and Guinea millets, as well as fonio, sorghum (or great millet) and teff.

Millets can grow in both low and high altitudes and across a wide latitudinal range, on arid lands, under non-irrigated conditions, in very low rainfall regimes, and have a low water footprint. Millets require less water than rice and wheat. They are very tolerant of heat (up to 64 degrees Celsius), drought and flood and it makes the crop an obvious choice for farmers in an era of climate change and depleting natural resources.

Millets are an ideal solution for countries to increase self-sufficiency and reduce reliance on imported cereal grains. They need minimal inputs, are resistant to diseases and pests and offer a reduced dependence on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. They are also more resilient to changes in climate than any other cereals. On top of diversifying the food system, millets can help enhance livelihoods for small farmers, including women, nationally and regionally.

Nutritional and health benefits of millet consumption

Millets are among the first plants to be domesticated and are considered “nutri-cereals” due to their high nutritional content . They are rich in vitamins and minerals, including iron and calcium; are high in protein, antioxidants, resistant starch, and have a low glycaemic index, which can help prevent or manage diabetes. Millets are also gluten-free. As whole grains, millets provide different amounts of fibre. Dietary fibre has a role in regulating bowel function, blood sugar and lipids, and satiation.

Millet production in the world

Millets have served as a traditional staple for hundreds of millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia (particularly in India, China, and Nigeria) for 7000 years and are now cultivated across the world. Estimates show that more than 90 million people in Africa and Asia depend on millets in their diets.

Africa accounts for more than 55 percent of global millet production, followed by Asia with nearly 40 percent, while Europe represents around three percent of the world market. In recent years, their production has gradually declined due to market distortions, a lack of appreciation of the benefits of millets and policies that have favored the production of the so-called Big Three cereals – rice, wheat and maize. Farmers have switched to cultivate more remunerative crops grown to sell for profit. They moved away from subsistence agriculture responding to changing consumer preferences and markets inputs.

Millets in Europe

Millet cultivation began in Europe around 3,500 years ago. The oldest cereals come from the eastern part of Europe, including Ukraine, which is consistent with the concept of the arrival of domesticated grain from Asia. Thanks to millets’ wide range of growing conditions and a lifecycle shorter than three summer months, they offer an additional harvest and therefore surplus food and fodder. It was likely a transformative innovation in European prehistoric agriculture previously based mainly on (winter) cropping of wheat and barley.

Revitalisation of millets

As the cultivation of millets is declining in many countries, their potential to address climate change and food security is not being realised in full. With a deepening climate crisis and multiple environmental stresses, this recently forgotten and underutilised crop could be the crucial link in the sustainable food supply chain as well as one of the climate resilient solutions. Contributions of millets to nutrition, livelihoods and incomes of family farmers, especially small-scale family farmers, can play an important role in contributing to food security and eradicating poverty. The popularisation of millets is also an effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , and in particular: SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 12 (sustainable consumption and production), and SDG 13 (climate action).

The International Year of Millets 2023 will focus on:

• Raising awareness of the nutritional and health benefits of millets and promoting millets as a key component of the food basket.
• Raising awareness of the contribution of millets to food security and their important role in keeping a check on food wastage. Some of the millets are good for consumption even after 10-12 years of growing !
• Promoting the sustainable cultivation of millets, also under adverse and changing climatic conditions and improving their quality.
• Highlighting their potential to provide new sustainable market opportunities for producers and consumers. Greater millet production can support the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and can provide decent jobs for women and youth.
• Promoting a better utilization of crop rotations.
• Enhancing investment in research and development.

More information:

International Year of Millets: Unleashing the potential of millets for the well-being of people and the environment

Millets prove tasty solution to climate and food security challenges

Millet seeds, a powerful weapon against hunger

International Year of Millets 2023 – Building momentum for the year

Sorghum and millets in human nutrition

2023 : Année internationale du mil, une céréale « durable »

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International Year of Millets: Unleashing the potential of millets for the well-being of people and the environment

UN dedicates 2023 to greater efforts in producing millets given their nutritional properties and resilience in adapting to climate change

Opening ceremony of the International Year of Millets 2023

©FAO/Giulio Napolitano

Rome – As the global agrifood systems face challenges to feed an ever-growing global population, resilient cereals like millets provide an affordable and nutritious option, and efforts need to be scaled-up to promote their cultivation.

 This was the message at the opening ceremony of the International Year of Millets 2023 (IYM) at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on Tuesday.

Millets encompass a diverse group of cereals including pearl, proso, foxtail, barnyard, little, kodo, browntop, finger and Guinea millets, as well as fonio, sorghum (or great millet) and teff. They are an important source of nourishment for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. They are deeply rooted in Indigenous Peoples’ culture and traditions and help guarantee food security in areas where they are culturally relevant.

“Millets are incredible ancestral crops with high nutritional value. Millets can play an important role and contribute to our collective efforts to empower smallholder farmers, achieve sustainable development, eliminate hunger, adapt to climate change, promote biodiversity, and transform agrifood systems,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu told participants at the hybrid event.

Greater millet production can support the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and can provide decent jobs for women and youth. The revenue created can boost economic growth. With the possibility of a health cereal alternative with millets, the risks associated with production shocks can be mitigated.

The IYM 2023 and the push towards increasing millet production will contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development .

“This International Year is a timely reminder of this important crop. And it provides a unique opportunity to raise awareness of, and to direct policy attention to the nutritional and health benefits of millet consumption, the suitability of millets for cultivation under adverse and changing climatic conditions and creating sustainable and innovative market opportunities for many countries around the work for millets to benefit farmers and consumers globally,” Director-General Qu told the audience.

Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed delivered a video message during the opening ceremony. Indian Minister of State for Agriculture, Shobha Karandlaje, delivered a message from the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India presented the proposal for the International Year and is the chair of the Year’s Steering Committee.

Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Mohammed M. Abubakar, also delivered a keynote speech while Panama’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, spoke via video message.

 IYM 2023 hopes to galvanise interest in millets among various stakeholders like farmers, the youth and civil society and push governments and policy makers to priorities the production and trade in these cereals.

More on this topic

International Year of Millets 2023

Crop prospects and food situation

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022

Sreya Banerjee FAO News and Media (Rome) [email protected]

FAO News and Media (+39) 06 570 53625 [email protected]

Millets prove tasty solution to climate and food security challenges

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A renewed focus on boosting the production of millets and highlighting their benefits, is critical to reducing over-reliance on more commonly grown crops, boosting diverse diets, and food security. That’s especially true during periods of natural disaster when food becomes scarce, according to Dr Nancy Aburto, an agriculture expert at the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ). 

She spoke to UN News earlier this year, saying that following the UN General Assembly’s recent adoption of a resolution proclaiming 2023 as the  International Year of Millets  in March 2021, efforts are afoot to promote cultivation as a solution to climate and global food security challenges.   

Millets – often called “Nutri-Cereals” due to their high nutritional value – are a group of small-seeded grasses grown mainly in dry zones of Asia and Africa. These include sorghum (or great millet), pearl millet, finger millet, fonio, proso millet, foxtail millet, teff and other smaller varietals. 

Estimates show that more than 90 million people in Africa and Asia depend on millets in their diets. Africa accounts for more than 55 percent of global production, followed by Asia with nearly 40 percent, while Europe represents around three percent of the world market. 

Population challenge 

The world needs to produce more food to feed a rapidly growing global population, which is projected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, and a staggering 9.7 billion by 2050. 

With a deepening climate crisis and aggravating environmental stresses, there is a heightened need for crop diversification by promoting crops suitable for cultivation in the toughest of environments. 

Acknowledging the role of millets in responding to nutritional, agrarian and climate challenges, the UN resolution considers the “urgent need to raise awareness of the climate-resilient and nutritional benefits of millets and to advocate for diversified, balanced and healthy diets through the increased sustainable production and consumption of millets.” 

They are rich in vitamins and minerals, including iron and calcium; are high in protein, fiber, resistant starch, and have a low glycemic index, which can help prevent or manage diabetes. 

Good to grow 

“Compared to the more commonly known cereals such as wheat, rice or corn, millets are capable of growing under drought conditions, under non-irrigated conditions even in very low rainfall regimes, having a low water footprint”, explained Dr. Aburto, deputy director in the nutrition and food systems division of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. 

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics ( ICRISAT ) based in Hyderabad, India, is a non-profit organization that conducts agricultural research for development. ICRISAT works closely with farmer communities and its partners, including the International Fund for Agriculture Development ( IFAD ), focusing on millets, among other crops. 

ICRISAT Assistant Director General for External Relations, Joanna Kane-Potaka, described millets as a smart food – good for people, the planet, and farmers. 

“Millets can help contribute to some of the biggest global challenges in unison - nutrition and health needs, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, poverty of smallholder and marginalized farmers in the dry zones - some of the toughest areas that will take longer to reach the sustainable development goals.” 

Boosting sustainability 

Through offering a reduced dependence on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, millets cultivation may also help promote a shift towards sustainable agriculture, diversifying crop rotations and avoiding the promotion of mono-cropping systems. 

“The high carbon content of the crop residues makes them particularly important for maintaining and increasing soil carbon levels, important for sustainable cropping systems, and, where applicable, for providing forage, at the same time, for livestock,” noted Dr. Aburto. 

‘Food system divide’ 

Millets are believed to be among the earliest domesticated plants, which have long served as traditional staple crops for millions of farmers, particularly in India, China, and Nigeria. 

Notwithstanding the wide range of benefits that millets provide, they have largely been missing from the global food security agenda. In fact, in recent years, their production has gradually declined. 

Experts point towards market distortions, a lack of appreciation of the benefits of millets and policies that have favored the production of the so-called Big Three cereals - rice, wheat and maize, resulting in a “Food System Divide”. 

Joanna Kane-Potaka of ICRISAT, gave the example of India where “during the green revolution, high yielding varieties of rice and wheat were introduced and supported to scale out on a massive scale, to improve food security, while arguably, inadequate attention was paid to nutrition or environmental factors.” 

The problem is further compounded by changing dietary habits, high transaction costs and the challenges involved in accessing better markets; especially true for Africa. 

“Farmers have therefore shifted to more remunerative crops grown to sell for profit and moved away from subsistence agriculture responding to changing consumer preferences and markets inputs,” said Dr. Aburto. 

Millet comeback 

According to Ms. Potaka, helping millets make a comeback is not just popularization of a neglected and underutilized crop but also an effort to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) – mainly SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG3 (good health and well-being), SDG 12 (sustainable consumption and production), and SDG 13 (climate action). 

“It is essential to work on increasing the production and changing of perceptions about them to drive demand with new and modern products,” she emphasized. 

The current trend can be reversed with government-led policies to support production and consumption of millets, coupled with enhanced consumer awareness of their nutritional and health benefits, said Dr. Aburto. 

In parallel, raising investments for research and development and generating opportunities for farmers to secure better connectivity with efficient value chains and markets, would also be crucial. 

Dr. Aburto also stressed the vital role of farmers in the conservation and maintenance of genetic diversity of millet through initiatives such as community seedbanks, seed fairs, and farmer networks, with a focus on promoting local millets. 

2023: the year of millets 

In declaring 2023 the International Year of Millets, the resolution calls on all stakeholders to provide support to “activities aimed at raising awareness of and directing policy attention to the nutritional and health benefits of millet consumption, and their suitability for cultivation under adverse and changing climatic conditions, while also directing policy attention to improving value chain efficiencies.” 

Building on the experiences gained from past initiatives such as the 2016 International Year of Pulses and the 2021 International Year of Fruits and Vegetables , the UN agriculture agency is working to develop an action plan in partnership with external stakeholders, including farmers and research institutions. 

“Actions taken will be aligned and supported via existing initiatives, such as the UN decade of action on Nutrition, 2016-2025 that provides an umbrella for a wide group of actors to work together to address malnutrition and other pressing nutrition issues,” Dr. Aburto added. 

In line with FAO ’s vision of a sustainable and food secure world for all, producing more and nutritious food for a growing population without overburdening land resources is a massive global challenge. 

In the search for climate resilient solutions, millets could be the crucial link in the sustainable food supply chain.

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2023 is The International ‘Year of Millets’ | Here’s Why They Matter For Global Food Security

• Human Stories

Indigenous millets are a nutritious and climate-resilient crop. But in India, their production is rapidly declining. Find out why the United Nations declared 2023 “the International Year of Millets” and how traditional farmers like Narayan and Kusum Gaikwad preserve the traditional millet varieties.

The guidelines from district administration were not to step out after 10 AM. 77-year-old Narayan Gaikwad did the opposite. “I just wanted to see the effect of this scorching heat on my pearl millet,” he says.

The temperature passed 40 degrees Celsius in the last week of May this year. Despite the heat, Gaikwad, adorning a white shirt, pyjama , and traditional Indian cap with a pointed end, inspected every crop in his 3.5-acre field.

“The hybrid sugarcane had dried completely and immediately needed to be irrigated,” he explains. Meanwhile, sorghum and pearl millet didn’t require any more water. “It has been a month since I watered them, and they all shone brightly. These crops can survive the heat as they are a powerhouse of energy,” Gaikwad tells me as he hugs his pearl millet in the unbearable heat.

Gaikwad and his wife, Kusum, are 65 and live in Jambhali village, which has a population of fewer than 5000 people in India’s Maharashtra state. Over 80% of the people in Jambhali are farmers, but Gaikwad and Kusum are the only ones still cultivating traditional pearl millet and sorghum. Most of their neighbours switched to hybrid sugarcane and sorghum in the 1970s.

Millet production in India

Various types of millet are cultivated in India, such as pearl millet, sorghum, finger millet, barnyard millet, foxtail millet, little millet, and proso millet. In fact, India is the largest millet-producing country in the world. In 2019, for example, India produced 17.3 million tonnes of millet, making up 80% of Asia’s harvest and 20% of global production. 1

After the Indian government’s proposal, the United Nations declared 2023 the international year of millets, drawing attention to these climate-resilient and nutritious crops. 2 But efforts to revive millets tend to focus on modern hybrid rather than traditional varieties. And if everything goes well, these hybrid varieties have significantly higher yields.

For example, a Government report points out that since the green revolution of 1965-70, the area under millet cultivation declined by a massive 56%, but the productivity increased to 228% because of the adoption of high-yielding hybrid varieties. 1

The problem with an overreliance on hybrids is that they can’t deal as well with adversity. According to several local farmers, the hybrid varieties are more affected by pests, diseases, and extreme weather events than the traditional ones.

Millets are nutri-cereal grains that belong to Poaceae , a plant family commonly known as grasses. They are small, round grains grown primarily in Asian and African countries and used for human consumption and livestock feed.

Abandoning traditional millet

In the past, millets formed 20% of the food grain basket in India, which has now come down to a mere 6%. 1

These falling numbers are visible in tens of thousands of India’s villages like Jambhali, where farmers abandoned traditional crops to move towards well-paying and easier-to-harvest soybeans, sugarcane, and cereals like rice, wheat, and maize. Where millet is still being grown, it tends to be new hybrid versions rather than traditional varieties. But some people are resisting the change.

Last-generation farmers like Gaikwad are defying this trend. For him, abandoning the crop would mean letting down a family legacy of cultivating millet, which goes back 150 years.

“I always give fresh fodder to my cattle, and so I cultivate millets throughout the year,” he says. Almost every day, Gaikwad cuts ten kilograms of pearl millet’s stalk for his Murrah water buffalo. He proudly shares that there’s no particular season to cultivate pearl millet. “I grow it throughout the year despite the climatic fluctuations.”

Every day, the Gaikwad family eats millet flatbread, which makes it impossible for them to abandon the crop. “Our family has a tradition of eating flatbread made of sorghum, pearl millet or finger millet. If we abandon the crop, we don’t just end an important tradition but also bring a tremendous change in farming by moving to complete cash crops or intense usage of chemical fertilisers. None are good for the environment,” says Kusum.

Declining Indigenous millet cultivation

Traditional sorghum takes six months to grow, while the hybrid varieties grow in just half the time and yield almost twice the production. Gaikwad recalls the 1970s when farmers in his village started shifting to high-yielding hybrid millet varieties. Seeing such bumper harvests, one by one, farmers in Jambhali kept abandoning the traditional crops until they hit a dead end.

After several years of success, the new varieties started to fail. I spoke to several local farmers, who explained that hybrid crops are less climate resilient and require intense use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Increasing the use of chemical fertilisers has deteriorated soil quality, bringing down production in the long term. This can create a vicious cycle whereby farmers use even more fertilisers to try to overcome poor soil health, but that “solution” can simultaneously make the problem even worse.

Since 2010, India has reported a 40% decline in sorghum production, down to 4 million metric tons in 2022-23. 3 , 4

Gaikwad cultivates both traditional and hybrid sorghum varieties. He says that while the hybrid varieties are required to feed the growing population, there needs to be a balance.

Chemical fertilisers have been virtually uncontrolled for several years, and Gaikwad says it’s almost impossible to reverse the trend. “Now, many farmers can’t grow any crop without using chemical fertilisers and pesticides,” he says, pointing towards a neighbouring farmer’s field suffering from extreme salinification.

Read more about how chemical fertilisers are feeding the world - and at what cost

The pros and cons of hybrid varieties

Hybrid varieties might be less resilient, but there are good reasons why they are becoming so popular.

Gaikwad says farmers can harvest over 500 kilograms of pearl millet in an acre of field, while hybrid varieties can go as high as 700-800 kilograms. His sons now prefer cultivating only the hybrid varieties and have abandoned traditional farming. “It’s not their mistake. It’s just unaffordable to cultivate the traditional varieties looking at recurring farm losses and the rising cost of living,” explains Gaikwad. But even if growing hybrid varieties can make more financial sense, there is a nutritional catch.

In an article for Bizz Buzz News, Devinder Sharma, writer, researcher and expert on Indian agriculture, writes, “Not many people know that developing high-yielding crop varieties and hybrids is inversely proportional to a fall in nutrients. The higher the crop productivity, the steeper is the decline in its nutritive value.” He further writes, “They (millets) have 30 to 300 per cent more nutritional elements than wheat and rice. By breeding for higher productivity, millets will invariably lose the advantage they are known for.” 5 , 6

In Maharashtra alone, over 40 pearl millet hybrid varieties have been released. This threatens the cultivation of nutrient-rich traditional varieties and means that local people could eat increasingly less nutritious food. 7

How millets help solve the problem of food security

When compared to other grains and the hybrid millet varieties, traditional millets are highly nutritious.

Amongst millets, finger millet contains the highest amount of calcium. 8 Globally, 3.5 billion people remain at risk of inadequate calcium intake. 9 Roughly 90% of them live in Asia and Africa. With traditional millets declining and rapidly changing eating habits, the health risks are becoming more severe.

Millets are also found to be an excellent iron source, thereby helping people with anaemia. 10 Looking at such benefits, Gaikwad talks of the sugarcane cutters who migrate hundreds of kilometres from drought-prone regions and mainly eat pearl and finger millet flatbread. “They always stay healthy because of eating millet.”

Alongside traditional pearl millet, Gaikwad cultivates ridge gourd (aka. Chinese okra), bitter gourd, amaranth, and elephant grass. “None of these crops interfere with pearl millet’s growth,” he explains. Moreover, diversifying the cultivation has helped him restore the soil nutrients.

Every crop amongst them is nutritious and good for the environment, says Gaikwad. While other farmers in the region struggle to cultivate anything besides sugarcane, Gaikwad proudly grows over fifty food crops and vegetables. 

Editor’s note: Work is being done to “biofortify” hybrid varieties and make them more nutritious. A 2019 study states that 70,000 hectares of “biofortified” pearl millet are grown in India. 11 Research projects are in various stages of development, so it’s too early to say how beneficial they might prove to people suffering from micronutrient deficiencies in India and beyond.

Using traditional millets to make farms climate-proof

Farming conditions in Maharashtra have rapidly changed.

Since 2019, floods have become frequent, ravaging hundreds of villages every year. A year before the 2019 flood, India saw the destruction of 1.7 million hectares of land, which increased to 11.42 million hectares in 2019-2020. 12 This damage was caused by heavy rainfall, floods, and landslides.

Gaikwad’s fellow villagers reported a significant farm loss in all these years, but he always managed a good harvest. Despite reporting a decline in soybean and hybrid groundnut production, he proudly says, “Nothing happened to my sorghum and pearl millet.” His pearl millet survived despite the heat waves and unseasonal rain. This is not unique to Gaikwad. Research has found that millets are climate resilient. 13

Gaikwad shares that pearl millet reaches around four feet, and its roots hold the soil firmly, making it more resilient. “Cultivating pearl millet and sorghum costs me nothing as it doesn’t require chemical fertilisers and pesticides,” he says, helping him tremendously in bringing down the cost of production.

Similarly, his wife Kusum, who has preserved the traditional sorghum, has reported a good harvest. “We are the only family in the village to cultivate this traditional sorghum variety,” she says.

Challenges in preserving the traditional millets

Faced with growing debts, crop failures, and a rapidly changing climate - farmers in India are struggling.

“A single pearl millet cob produces over 1,000 seeds. So why are farmers still dying of suicide?” asks Gaikwad. He refers to a major agrarian crisis worsened by a rapidly destabilising climate. Around 400,000 farmers died by suicide in India between 1995 and 2018. 14

A government report points out that over 50% of India’s farming households are in debt with an average of 74,121 Indian Rupees (€826), an equivalent of what a farmer like Gaikwad will get after selling 2,400 kilograms of sorghum. 15

But even if millets are more climate-resilient and nutritious, they don’t fetch a good price. “Many times, it becomes difficult even to recover the cost of production. Hence, to date, none has come to me to ask for its seeds,” he says, referring to the declining interest of the next-generation farmers in cultivating them.

Sugarcane is more profitable in the short run. “Sugarcane and cash crops don’t require much care and maintenance. You keep irrigating the field indiscriminately and supplying fertilisers, and those crops flourish,” he says. However, sugarcane requires a tremendous amount of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and when it is continually grown in the same place, the soil becomes depleted of nutrients. It’s also worth remembering that sugarcane isn’t a nutritious crop that improves health or food security. As our sugar intake increases, public health continues to deteriorate.

As sugarcane production grows, traditional millet survival is at risk. “Now we are at a point in farming where if you lose the seed once, you will lose it forever,” So the Gaikwads have taken it upon themselves to preserve the traditional seeds. Over the years, they have successfully preserved the seeds of over fifteen vegetables, millet, and food crops.

“Someday, someone will realise the importance of these crops. My goal is to preserve the crops until then and let them take it ahead.”

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• Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (2022). “INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF MILLETS (IYoM)- 2023.”
• United Nations (2022). “International Year of Millets 2023 - Building momentum for the year.”
• Statista (2022). “Production volume of jowar in India from financial year 2010 to 2021, with estimates for 2022.”
• US Department of Agriculture (2023). “Sorghum 2022 World Production.”
• Sharma, D. (2023). “Shun hybrid varieties, promote traditional millet seeds in India.” Bizz Buzz News.
• Govindaraj, M. et al. (2019). ‘Breeding Biofortified Pearl Millet Varieties and Hybrids to Enhance Millet Markets for Human Nutrition’.
• C Tara Satyavathi, et al. (2018) Pearl Millet Hybrids and Varieties. ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Pearl Millet, Mandor, Jodhpur, India.
• Puranik S., et al. (2017). Harnessing Finger Millet to Combat Calcium Deficiency in Humans: Challenges and Prospects. Frontiers in Plant Science.
• Shlisky, J., et al. (2022). Calcium deficiency worldwide: Prevalence of inadequate intakes and associated health outcomes.
• Anitha, S., et al. (2021). Millets Can Have a Major Impact on Improving Iron Status, Hemoglobin Level, and in Reducing Iron Deficiency Anemia–A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
• Govindaraj, M., et al. (2019) Breeding Biofortified Pearl Millet Varieties and Hybrids to Enhance Millet Markets for Human Nutrition.
• MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE (2020). “AGRICULTURAL LAND DAMAGED BY FLOODS.”
• Abdullah, K. & Abukari, A. & Abdulai, A. (2022) “Testing the climate resilience of sorghum and millet with time series data, Cogent Food & Agriculture,”
• Hadikar, J. (2021). “Statistics say nearly 4,00,000 farmers committed suicide in India between 1995 and 2018. Why?”
• Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (2021). “Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India, 2019 (January – December 2019).”

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International Year of Millets 2023 - Building…

22 March 2022

International Year of Millets 2023 - Building momentum for the year

Millets are among the first plants to be domesticated and are considered "nutri-cereals" due to their high nutritional content. They have served as a traditional staple for hundreds of millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia for 7 000 years, and are now cultivated across the world. However, their cultivation is declining in many countries, and their potential to address climate change and food security is not being realized in full. This is despite the fact that millets can grow on relatively poor soils and under adverse and arid conditions, with comparatively fewer inputs than other cereals.

The need to promote the diversity and nutritional and ecological benefit of millets to consumers, producers, value chain actors, and decision makers is timely, and can improve food sector linkages.

As such, a proposal for an International Year of Millets (2023) was brought forward by the Government of India and endorsed by Members of FAO Governing Bodies, as well as by the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly.

The International Year will (i) elevate awareness of the contribution of millets for food security and nutrition (ii) inspire stakeholders on improving sustainable production and quality of millets; and (iii) draw focus for enhanced investment in research and development and extension services to achieve the other two aims.

International Year of Millets

Renewed focus on nutrition storehouse.

The United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session in March 2021 declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023). In this article, Livleen K Kahlon says that with the UNGA declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets, there’s a renewed focus on these nutritious grains. This move will serve best in the interest of developing countries, where almost 97 per cent of global millet production happens. But, it is going to take a lot of effort to change the mindset and lifestyles of consumers towards a millet-positive diet.

Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man you have seen, and ask yourself if this step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. —Mahatma Gandhi

The above talisman is a prophecy made by the father of the nation, which now, after 75 years of India’s independence, is going to be true. Millets, also known as poor man’s food, have recently received a global boost by the Resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA), declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets (IYM). This move will serve best in the interest of developing countries, where almost 97 per cent of global millet production happens. Marginalized sections of the population are majorly dependent on this grain, and its production is favoured in dry and high-temperature conditions. IYM is hence seen as a recognition that will benefit billions of people in the disadvantaged sections of society who are dependent on this lesser known miracle grain.

What are Millets?

Millets are proven to be extremely good for health. Being gluten-free they are fit for consumption by those who are gluten intolerant. They are known to reduce the risk of heart diseases as they keep a check on cholesterol levels. Children on a millet diet have reduced occurrence of asthma and other breathing ailments. It is highly beneficial for postmenopausal women to keep their blood pressure and cholesterol under control. Recent research studies have also indicated that the regular consumption of millets is associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. With these established benefits, it is first important to understand how millets trend in the current world’s food basket. While six great cereals that dominate the intake trend are wheat, rice, corn, barley, oats, and rye, their occurrence and consumption depends mainly on the climatic conditions. While oats and rye are dominant in colder regions of the world, wheat and barley are popular in the warm temperate regions. The third category that dominates tropical zones comprises rice, maize, and 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, sub-tropical, and tropical regions. While millets are used as a dietary intake in China, Japan, African countries and India, they are used as a birdseed in western countries. There are several types of millets consumed by Indian households. The most popular being sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), and finger millet (ragi). Along with a favourable domestic market, India is also the fifth largest exporter of millets in the world. While wheat, rice and maize dominate as the ‘big three’ in terms of world’s mega production; millets along with barley, oats, rye, and sorghum make up the second position. It is beyond doubt that millets are not only good for you, but also good for our planet Earth.

Demystifying the Millets

Based on the cultivation pattern, millets are classified as major and minor. Major millets include pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) , foxtail millet (Setaria italica ), proso millet (also known as common millet), broom corn millet, hog millet or white millet (Panicum miliaceum) , and finger millet (Eleusine coracana) . Minor millets include barnyard millet (Echinochloa spp.) , kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum) , and little millet (Panicum sumatrense) . Table 1 lists the common Hindi names of millets widely used in India.

Table 1: Hindi names of a few dominant millets consumed in India

Introduction of Millets in Our Diet

Millet is an old world domesticated food, which also finds mention in religious scripts of many global faiths. Dry millet was the earliest farm crop in East Asia, and is resistant to drought conditions. Earliest historical evidence related to domestication of millets as a staple diet is found from remnants of Indus civilization (~ 3000 BC). While cereals dominate as our staple diet, domestication of millets in diet are assigned to parts of Northern China, and then a later spread to Russia, India, Middle East, and Europe.

While the emergence of Mesopotamian civilization is linked to abundance of wheat and barley in the fertile floodplains of Lower Tigris and Euphrates, the common millet is linked to Yellow River floodplains, and hence was responsible for development of social complexity in the Chinese civilization. Millets are now grown in 131 countries and serve as traditional food for a population close to 60 crore, majorly from Asia and Africa. It is important to systematically review the problem that ails this ‘super grain’ to be able to bring it back to its past glory. Declaration of 2023 as the International Year of Millets is a good start to this journey and impetus in the form of branding, production scale ups, and enhanced acceptance as a nutrition booster needs to be pursued.

The Rise and Fall of Millets

Within India, millets are seen as climate-friendly next generation crops. Millets have low irrigation requirement and can be grown in hostile conditions in rocky and sandy terrain. The starting point of decline in dependence on millets is seen as the Green Revolution (1960s), which succeeded in pulling out India from a famine situation, but adversely affected indigenous crops of the country, including millets. The revolution supported increased production of rice and wheat, but millets which were a part of the Indian culture for more than 3000 years, received a setback. Consumption of millets can make India “hunger free” and it is high time we realize the real benefits of “healthy eating”. Millets also confer ecological impetus through their adoption as a cultivation crop. As per studies brought out by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), relative water requirement (in mm of rainfall) of finger millets, and sorghum is in the range of 350 mm–400 mm, while that of maize, wheat and rice is in the range 500 mm–1250 mm. Millets require the lowest amount of water as compared to the other cereal crops and hence are the future to ensure sustainable supply of grains. Due to tougher seed coats of millets, they need more focussed efforts for their processing. This is an area that needs intervention of an advanced technology mechanization.

The Journey from Being Orphan Crops to Miracle Grains

Millets and pseudo-cereals have dual advantages of being highly resilient to harsh conditions and having high nutritional value. For a clearer understanding, pseudo-cereals comprise grain amaranths, buckwheat, and chenopods. The latter group are not cereals, but are considered as their effective replacements.

Millets as a Nutrition Storehouse

A well-balanced diet that supplies all important nutrients is essential for our growth and development. Proteins serve as important building blocks in our body, fibre diet assists in digestion, iron builds up haemoglobin in our body, and magnesium supports strong immune system, regulates body temperature, and helps in transmission of nerve impulses. Phosphorus is responsible for formation of bones and teeth, zinc helps build our immune system, copper helps us absorb iron, and also regulates blood pressure and heart rate. Copper is needed for production of melanin, manganese handles oxidative stress, and B Vitamins help in maintaining healthy hair, skin and muscles, and formation of RBCs. With this awareness, it is important to appreciate the role of millets in our diet. Millets contain high levels of calcium, iron, and beta carotene. They are definitely ahead of conventional staple food (rice, wheat), in terms of minerals, calcium, and fibres. They are a solution to prevailing malnutrition especially in dry and arid regions of the world. With a low fertilizer and water requirement they are an answer to meeting the food security concerns.

However, it is important to tread with care, if we plan an overnight switch to a millet diet. This is not advisable for infants and sick people. Millets require to be cooked well before consumption to avoid any adverse impact on health.

Interesting Facts about Millets

Millet is a small-grained annual cereal and forage grass that is widely grown in dry regions

Millets are drought resistant

Mass-scale production of jowar and ragi (millets) is being done in India

Millets have a short growing season and high productivity

Cereals have higher irrigation needs than millets.

India, Marching Ahead with Millets

India produces 80 per cent of Asia’s and 20 per cent of global millets. The top 5 millet producing Indian states are Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. Mass awareness drives through targeted food festivals, cooking workshops, consultative seminars, and continuous interactions between dieticians, doctors, civil society members, youth and students are important to create a large support base for millet production and consumption. Agriculture-based universities can create several avenues for sensitization of general public towards adoption of a millet-based diet. As India strives to find ways of achieving food and nutrition security, ensuring the sustainability of its food and land-use systems, along with an efficient use of natural resources across its diverse agro-ecological regions are imperative. Achieving this will mean building the capabilities and high-quality human resources possessing requisite skills for advancing innovation, diversification, commercialization, sustainability and increased efficiency across the value chain. The New Education Policy (NEP), 2020 and the National Agricultural Education Policy lay an emphasis on education that not only makes students ready for employability, but also build up their competency to evolve as employers. Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) was also launched to reorient graduates of agriculture and allied subjects for ensuring and assuring employability to develop entrepreneurs through enhancing and articulating knowledge, skills, ability, and experience. It requires students to take a 6-month internship to gain hands-on training (in plant/industry), rural awareness and work experience, and experience learning with business mode so as to accentuate entrepreneurship skills and work on projects that enhance research expertise, communication, and writing skills. The NEP also envisages ICAR to act as a Professional Standard Setting Bodies (PSSBs) and will be a member of the General Education Council (GEC) to frame expected learning outcomes for high education. With these provisions and the growing global acceptance of alternate food items such as millets, time is right to create intervention strategies to popularize millet-rich diet. This can be scaled up further with celebrity endorsements and brand ambassadors.

As a part of the global promotion, the FAO has laid out certain action points that will be taken up as priority steps. These include organization of global conferences on millets, research studies on millets, compilation of case studies, global recipes project, and an international exhibition and art work on millets. Active engagement with UN bodies, World Food Programme, IFAD, and institutional donors will be pursued.

The Government of India had laid out a constructive plan that will be observed to mark the IYM 2023. This includes inclusion of millets as a mid-day meal in anganwadis and schools. Celebrity endorsements and social media influencers will be involved in the millet awareness campaign. Railways and airlines will serve millet cuisines. Launch of resource material, including an ambitious cookbook with millet recipes will be done. India had already taken a first step towards promotion of millets by observing 2018 as the National Year of Millets. Now with UNGA declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets, there’s a renewed focus on these nutritious grains. It is going to take a lot of effort to change the mindset and lifestyles of consumers towards a millet-positive diet.

Livleen K Kahlon, Senior Fellow and Associate Director, EEA, TERI, New Delhi.

This article and more from TerraGreen can be viewed here: https://terragreen.teriin.org/

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International Year of Millets (IYM) 2023

Syllabus: Agriculture

Source: Newonair.gov.in

Context: 2023 has been declared as IYM by the UN on a proposal by India with the aim to create awareness about the health benefits of millet.

Benefits of Millets:

• Nutritional Security : cheap and more nutritious. E.g. Ragi has the highest calcium content and high iron content can fight the high prevalence of anaemia.
• Climate Resilient: they are known as hardy and drought-resistant crops, which has to do with their
• Economic Security : low investment for inputs
• Against Health Issues : Millets are gluten-free and have a low glycemic index (glucose level) and therefore can help in tackling lifestyle problems and health challenges such as obesity and diabetes.
• Millets have antiaging and antioxidant

Challenges:

• Preference for Wheat as staple food: Wheat because of gluten makes softer food and is more liked. Government policies: g. National Food Security Act promotes wheat and rice
• Lack of awareness about the benefit of Millet.
• Other challenges: lack of input subsidies and price incentives, and changing consumer preferences.

Initiatives in India :

• Government declared (in 2018) millets as “Nutri-Cereals ”, considering their “high nutritive value” and also “anti-diabetic properties”.
• The 2018 year: ‘ National Year of Millets”.
• Increase in MSP for millets
• Government has included millets in the public distribution system (PDS) and POSHAN Abhiyan .
• Millet Mission (under the National Food Security Mission): It will help develop farm-gate processing and empower farmers using FPOs.
• Kerala State Agriculture Department: Millet Village scheme
• Millet Startup Innovation Challenge
• A contest for designing a comic story, with the theme ‘ India’s Wealth, Millets for Health’

Other Initiatives for millets:

• SCO: India proposed to organize the “Millet Food Festival’

Conclusion :

In view of the impact of climate change and government aim for climate-smart agriculture, Millets deserves encouragement. It can also help in providing nourishment to people across all income categories and supporting climate adaptation of rainfed sustainable farming systems.

Mains Links

Q. Millets have enormous potential to form a core component in climate-smart agriculture whilst offering nutritional and food security benefits. Elaborate. (15M)

Prelims Link

Consider the following crops of India: (UPSC 2012)

• Pearl millet

Which of the above is/are predominantly rainfed crops/crops?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Over 60% of the total cropped area in India is Rainfed. Millets (89% area is rainfed); Pulses (88%); Cotton (73%), etc.

Among the following, which one is the least water-efficient crop? (UPSC 2021)

(a) Sugarcane

(b) Sunflower

(c) Pearl Millet

(d) Red gram

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International Year of Millets [UPSC Notes]

The United Nations has designated 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’. This was suggested by the Indian Government. Millets are in the news these days because of their high nutritional value and other benefits.  Due to their high nutritional value, millets are referred to as “nutri-cereals”. Despite being a staple food source for hundreds of millions of people worldwide, its production is declining now. 

In light of this, the Indian government suggested that 2023 be designated as the International Year of Millets. It was endorsed by Members of FAO Governing Bodies and at the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). More than 70 nations voted in favour of the resolution creating the International Year of Millets. Hence, this topic assumes great significance for the UPSC exam .

International Year of Millets

The objectives of declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets are as follows:

• Elevate awareness of the contribution of millets to food security and nutrition.
• Inspire stakeholders on improving sustainable production and quality of millets. 
• Draw focus on enhanced investment in research and development and extension services to achieve the other two aims.

What are Millets?

Image source: www.exportersindia.com

• Millets are a group of cereal grains belonging to the Poaceae family, sometimes referred to as the grass family.
• Millets were among the earliest plants to be domesticated; they have been a traditional food source for hundreds of millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia for more than 7,000 years, and they are today grown all over the world.
• Other significant crop species include finger millet, proso millet, and foxtail millet.
• They are considered ancient grains and are consumed as food for humans, animals, and birds.
• India is the world’s leading producer of millets.

Geographical Conditions for Millet Growth

• Millets are often cultivated in tropical and subtropical climates up to an altitude of 2,100 m.
• It is a heat-loving plant, and 8 to 10 °C is the minimum temperature needed for germination.
• For optimum growth and good crop production, a mean temperature range of 26–29°c is ideal.
• It is cultivated in areas with 500–900mm of annual rainfall.
• Kodo Millet has a high water requirement and thrives under conditions of 50–60 cm of rainfall.
• Alluvial, loamy, and sandy soils with adequate drainage are the best types of soil.
• Kodo millet may be produced on rocky and gravelly soil, such as those found in hilly areas.

Significance of Millets

• In comparison to other crops, they have a number of benefits, including drought and insect tolerance.
• Additionally, they can survive harsh conditions and infertile soils.
• So they are a superfood for everyone and grow abundantly while being environmentally resilient.
• When compared to rice and wheat flour, millets like jowar, bajra, and ragi have a substantially lower glycaemic index, which is a measurement of how much a diet raises your blood sugar levels.
• They also include more fibre per serving than foods like rice, wheat, etc.
• Millets are rich sources of high levels of protein, vitamin A, vitamin C (which aids in the absorption of iron), vitamin B complex, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus.

UPSC Questions related to International Year of Millets

Who declared the international year of millets.

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets.

Why 2023 is the Year of Millets?

In response to a proposal from India, the UN has designated 2023 as the International Year of millets with the goal of raising awareness of millet’s health advantages.

Which year is the International Year of grain?

Which country is the largest producer of millets.

International Year of Millers [UPSC Notes] :- Download PDF Here

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International Year of Millets 2023

• The United Nations General Assembly has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millet .

• 2018: It was in 2018 that the government of India decided to mark the National Year of Millets. 
• Ministry: Ministry of Agriculture is the nodal agency and the Indian Institute of Millets Research has been made the nodal institute for the celebration of the International Year of Millets.
• With the support of 72 other countries, India’s initiative to promote millet was recognized and the United Nations General Assembly has recently declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
• Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO): the aim for 2023 is to increase awareness about millet in food security and nutrition. And also to encourage investments in research and development for the same.
• Elevate awareness of the contribution of millet to food security and nutrition.
• Inspire stakeholders on improving sustainable production and quality of millets.
• Draw focus on enhanced investment in research and development and extension services to achieve the other two aims.

Significance of millets

• Short time and poor soil : The crop does not require much water and gets ready in a short time. Millets do not require high-quality soil to grow and hence can easily cater to the needs of the growing population.
• Superfood : Millets are called the super grain because of their high nutritional value.
• High in fibre : According to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) millets are high in dietary fibre.
• Other contents : millet contains 7-12 % protein, 2-5 % fat, 65-75% carbohydrates and 15-20% dietary fibre.
• Alleviating malnutrition : Due to their high density of nutrients including vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and dietary fibre, millets are also excellent grains to alleviate malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency.
• COVID-19 : The nutritional value of millets makes it even more relevant globally in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Millets can also help in tackling health challenges such as obesity, diabetes and lifestyle problems as they are gluten-free, have a low glycemic index and are high in dietary fibre and antioxidants.
• It can provide nutritional security and protect against nutritional deficiency, especially among children and women.
• It will also be critical for climate change measures in drylands and important for smallholder and marginal farmers.

Concerns /Challenges

• The awareness of the benefits of millets is still low and this is the reason for the lesser number of players working on value-added millet products in India.
• The main reasons behind the decline are low remuneration, lack of input subsidies and price incentives, subsidised supply of fine cereals through the public distribution system (PDS) and change in consumer preferences and lower demand 
• The lower demand also means limited supply and higher prices.  
• In the absence of proper market linkages for forest and agricultural produce, millet consumption is restricted to rural haats, bazaars, tourist spots and festivals. 

Steps taken towards promoting millets 

• The Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) has ordered all its offices to introduce and promote millets in their canteens and in meetings.
• This initiative encourages young minds to offer technological/ business solutions to the existing problems in the millets ecosystem.
• POSHAN Mission Abhiyan : The government also notified millets as nutri-cereals and included them under the POSHAN Mission Abhiyan.
• Mann ki Baat : PM had also highlighted the benefits of Millets to both farmers and consumers in one of the editions of his monthly radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’.
• National Nutri Cereals Convention 4.0 : The objective of the convention is to bring together all the stakeholders from Nutri Cereals Industry, from producers to processors to consumers, as well as academicians, researchers, and policymakers.

Source: AIR

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Make Your Note

2023 is the International Year of Millets- FAO

• 08 Dec 2018
• GS Paper - 3
• Agricultural Resources
• Food Security
• Important International Institutions

India's proposal to observe an International Year of Millets in 2023 has been approved at the by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) .

• India is celebrating 2018 as the national year of millets .
• Millet is a collective term referring to a number of small-seeded annual grasses that are cultivated as grain crops, primarily on marginal lands in dry areas in 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).

Millets as Smart Food

• Millets are less expensive and nutritionally superior to wheat & rice owing to their high protein , fibre , vitamins and minerals like iron content.
• Millets are also rich in calcium and magnesium . For example, Ragi is known to have the highest calcium content among all the food grains.
• Millets can provide nutritional security and act as a shield against nutritional deficiency, especially among children and women . Its high iron content can fight high prevalence of anaemia in India women of reproductive age and infants.
• Millets are rich in antioxidants .
• Millets can help tackle lifestyle problems and health challenges such as obesity and diabetes as they are gluten-free and have a low glycemic index (a relative ranking of carbohydrate in foods according to how they affect blood glucose levels).

Millets as Smart Crop

• Millets are Photo-insensitive (do not require a specific photoperiod for flowering) & resilient to climate change .
• Millets can grow on poor soils with little or no external inputs.
• Millets are less water consuming and are capable of growing under drought conditions , under non-irrigated conditions even in very low rainfall regimes
• Millets have low carbon and water footprint (rice plant needs at least 3 times more water to grow in comparison to millets).
• Millets can withstand high temperature . In times of climate change Millets are often the last crop standing and, thus, are a good risk management strategy for resource-poor marginal farmers.

Way Forward

• Since India, which supports more than 15% of the world’s population, but only has 4% of its water resources, promotion of millets could be helpful.
• To efficiently feed the growing population, increase in the production of and demand for millets is need of the hour.
• Policy changes need to address infrastructure development in regions growing millets.
• Cultivation of several varieties of millets should be encouraged and practised.
• For example, Odisha has planned to introduce millets in PDS, mid-day meal scheme (MDM) and the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).
• The government should incentivise farmers growing millets and practising mixed cropping, besides providing financial support for their processing, storage and marketing.
• Specific value addition practices, like grading, sorting, cleaning, processing and packaging should also be supported.

Additional Information

• FAO (specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger) Council approved India’s membership to the Executive Board of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) for 2020 and 2021.
• World Food Programme is the UN agency focused on hunger alleviation and food security .
• Globally, it responds to emergencies making sure food reaches where it is needed, especially in times of civil strife and natural disasters.
• In India, WFP has moved from providing direct food aid to providing technical assistance and capacity building services to the Government of India.