India’s efforts in promoting nutritious millets led to the declaration of 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Millets offer nutritional benefits, climate resilience, and livelihood support. India is actively promoting millets and value-added products globally to combat food insecurity and foster sustainability
The United Nations (UN) declared 2013 as the International Year of Quinoa (IYQ), a little-known “miracle” plant. After this declaration, Quinoa emerged as an important crop with the potential to find a place in the global food value system, transcending international boundaries.
Due to the awareness created during the international year, quinoa market prices increased manifold, driven by high demand in the world market, leading to increased consumption worldwide. In India, too, consumption of quinoa increased manifold, particularly in urban areas.
After a decade, it was a historic moment for India when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), at its 75th session in March 2021, declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023) to bolster global demand and meet the nutritional requirements of the burgeoning population. The proposal of India garnered support from 72 countries. The decision of the UNGA will serve the best interests of developing countries, which contribute 97 per cent of global millet production. The world agreed to shift its focus to these nutritious grains and decided to proceed with India’s proposal to popularise millets as an alternative food supplement.
Prior to that, recognising the importance of millets, the Government of India observed 2018 as the Year of Millets to encourage and promote their production. Due to the nutritional superiority of millets, the Government of India, in April 2018, notified millets as Nutri-Cereals, which were hitherto popularly known as Coarse Grains. A sub-mission of Nutri-cereals/millets is being implemented under the National Food Security Mission in 212 districts of 14 states in India. Nutri Cereals comprise sorghum (Jowar), pearl millet (Bajra), finger millet (Ragi/Mandua), and small millets viz; little millet (Kutki), kodo millet (Kodo), barnyard millet (Sawa/Jhangora), foxtail millet (Kangni/Kakun), proso millet (Cheena). Buckwheat and Amaranthus have also been notified as nutri-cereals. The major millet-producing States in India are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. However, the top five millet-producing states are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.
Given the importance of Millets in Indian tradition and culture, they have been rechristened as Shree Anna, which means the best among all food grains. Millets are becoming a medium of holistic development in India as they are linked with both Gaon (village) and Garib (the poor).
Indian millets are now in the process of gaining the lost glory, and efforts are on to make them the world’s acclaimed food supplement due to their nutritional importance in combating lifestyle-based diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and other lifestyle problems. Millets are gluten-free, have a low glycemic index, and are high in dietary fiber and antioxidants.
Traditionally in India, millets are grown under dry and rain-fed conditions and used to be the staple food in rural areas. The rural people used to rue the non-availability of rice and wheat and always aspired to replace millets with rice and wheat. But look at the irony, as people became aware of the benefits of millets, city dwellers are now switching over to millets, oats, quinoa, etc. Today, millets have a key role in the gourmet kitchen, and their use can also be extended to pharmaceutical and other industrial uses.
The Seven Sutras (themes) for IYOM 2023 are Enhancement of Production/Productivity, Nutrition and health benefits, Value-addition, Processing & Recipe Development, Entrepreneurship/Start-up/Collective Development, Awareness creation - Branding, Labelling & Promotion, International outreach, Policy interventions for mainstreaming.
Millets are important due to their requirement for a shorter growing season, ability to adapt to a wide range of temperatures, moisture-regimes, and input conditions, besides their ability to convert more carbon dioxide into oxygen. Additionally, the immense potential of millets to provide food and feed for the smallholder farmers of drylands and domestic animals makes them a popular choice for ensuring food and nutritional security. India is the topmost producer of millets followed by Nigeria. Millet crops are generally grown as rain-fed crops in the country on marginal/poor fertile soils, with about 78 per cent of millet area covered under rain-fed cultivation. Globally, India dominates the global area at 20 per cent and production at 18 per cent. The area under millet cultivation falls in the range of 12-14 million ha with 16-18 million tons of production and 11-13 tons of productivity.
To encourage farmers to grow Shree Anna and to ensure remunerative prices, significant increases have been affected so that farmers receive a minimum return of 50 per cent over all India weighted average cost of production.
Faced with the challenge of increasing the production of quality food to feed the world’s human and livestock population in the context of climate change, millets offer an alternative for those countries suffering from food insecurity. Millets have the requisite potential to play an important role in eradicating hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. This notion is substantiated by the very fact that due to the Ukraine-Russia crisis affecting the world supplies of wheat, millets can be a good substitute for wheat and rice. Millets offer nutrition, resilience, income, and livelihood for farmers even in difficult times. Therefore, millets are termed as Smart Food as they are good for consumers, good for the farmer, good for the planet, and are “Crops of the Future”. In times of climate change, they are often the last crop standing and thus are a good risk management strategy for resource-poor marginal farmers. These are promising sustainable future food sources amidst worsening climatic conditions. Millets, as Super-Foods, are nutritionally superior to wheat and rice, owing to their higher levels of protein with a more balanced amino acid profile, crude fiber, and minerals such as Iron, Zinc, and Phosphorous.
A study conducted in peri-urban areas of Karnataka evaluated the acceptance and impact of incorporating millets into the mid-day meal of school children. It was found that the mid-day meal was a major contributor to the daily calorie intake of the child. Also, the introduction of millets into the diet had resulted in a statistical improvement in the stunting and body mass index of the children. Thus, millets can be used as a potential ingredient to combat malnutrition.
The main importers of millets from India are Nepal, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. The Indian diaspora dispersed along the length and breadth of the world must be associated with enhancing exports, with a focus on countries with substantial Non-Resident Indians.
Value-added products developed from millets:
The Government has also launched a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the promotion of Millets. The primary objectives of this scheme include support for the creation of global food manufacturing champions and supporting Indian brands of food products in international markets. Specific food product segments with high growth potential have been identified for providing support under the scheme. These include ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat foods, including millet-based products.
The Government has taken several steps for the promotion of Millets. Over 500 start-ups are working in the Millet value chain, while the Indian Institute on Millet Research has incubated 250 start-ups. 180 Farmer Producer Organizations have been constituted in India exclusively for the promotion of millets.
In order to facilitate the movement of millets, the Government has revised the guidelines for the movement of surplus millet production to other States. The provision of inter-State transportation of surplus millets through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is incorporated to cater to advance demand placed by consuming states before the start of procurement. The Government, through the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), has created the Nutri Cereals Export Promotion Forum.
The Government is implementing Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN), formerly known as the National Programme on Mid-Day Meal in Schools, which provides one hot cooked meal in Government and Government-aided schools, wherein millets can be used by States/UTs under the scheme.
The primary and secondary processing methods used by ICAR-Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR), Hyderabad, in the Centre of Excellence (CoEs) set up by the Government of India, aim to develop good quality value-added products of millets. These products are now promoted and have aided in spreading nutritional awareness of millets among the consumers. They have gained wide momentum from consumers, creating lots of interest among entrepreneurs as they see more business opportunities in these nutritious, convenient, and healthy millet foods.
International outreach:
Policy interventions for mainstreaming 16 programs are being planned by APEDA for the promotion of millets and value-added products of millets in the UAE, Indonesia, the USA, Japan, the UK, Germany, Australia, Republic of Korea, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia. The total global imports of millets amount to $4,708.43 million, of which China alone imports millets worth $3,054.17 million (64.86 per cent), with India’s exports worth $66.48 million.
During the promotion program, Buyers Sellers Meets, Road Shows, and participation in major international events will be organised to promote millets and value-added products of millets.
NITI Aayog signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) on 20 December 2021. The partnership focuses on mainstreaming millets and supporting India in taking the lead globally in knowledge exchange, using the opportunity of 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Further, the partnership will aim at building resilient livelihoods for small-holder farmers and adaptation capacities to climate change and transforming food systems. The SoI focuses on strategic and technical collaboration between NITI Aayog and WFP to strengthen climate-resilient agriculture for enhanced food and nutrition security in India.
Millets can be introduced in the regions wherever they grow naturally in the public distribution system and Mid-day meal scheme to save money on transportation and storage. Indian Embassies worldwide can distribute millets and their products to other embassies during official celebrations and functions. Moreover, they can serve millet delicacies in the official programs hosted by them.
Normally, people don’t eat millets in summers, so ICMR in collaboration with ICAR, the National Institute of Nutrition, and Food and public distribution Departments must carry out clinical trials on suitability in summers, and apportionment studies can also be carried out.
Though the recipes of millet preparations are available, these need to be refined for their wider acceptability. So area-specific recipes with various millets and varied combinations, basically a bouquet of options, are to be made available. For that, tasters need to be engaged by FSSAI and other food development agencies.
Conclusion
The Government of India has always been very sensitive to the issues faced by the farmers and has taken various proactive initiatives to address each problem faced by them. India is now focusing on enhancing productivity, making post-harvest management robust, and giving farmers and buyers a unified national market to optimise benefits for addressing nutritional challenges and bringing diversity in the country’s agri-food systems.
By declaring 2023 as “The International Year of Millets,” the UN General Assembly has set the tone for increasing the area of cultivation of millet worldwide. India, as the world’s largest producer of millets, is taking wide-ranging steps to implement the benefits of this opportunity.
(The writer is a senior Indian Forest Service officer)
