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Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurates National Conference on Millets

Tags: Summits Economics/Business

Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated the National Conference on Millets on 23 June 2022.

The conference has been organized by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) with the support of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India.

The theme of the conference is: The Future Super Food for India.

The conference will provide a platform for leaders in the Food processing sector, practitioners, scientists, farmers, industries, organized agriculture sector, civil society, and NGOs to discuss and share experiences on successes, and to deliberate the opportunities and challenges faced in ensuring food and nutritional security.

Millets or coarse cereals or nutri cereals 

• Millet is one of the oldest known foods to humans. However its consumption in the world has declined due to the emphasis given to wheat and rice by the governments. 
• It is also called coarse cereals or nutri cereals due to its high nutritive value. 
• Nutri-cereals refers to a group of crops comprising sorghum (Jowar), pearl millet (Bajra), finger millet (Ragi/Mandua), and small millets like little millet (Kutki), kodo millet (Kodo), barnyard millet (Sawa/Jhangora), foxtail millet (Kangni/Kakun), and proso millet (Cheena).

Millets as a Superfood 

• Millets are superfoods that are rich in nutrients such as copper, magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese. 
• They are low on glycaemic index. 
• The rich nutritional content in millets helps in maintaining a healthy life. These are ideal food for people suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and heart diseases. Millets contain fiber that helps in digestion and fights against bowel issues.
•  Regular consumption of millets helps in preventing gastrointestinal problems and other diseases related to the kidney and liver.
• Due to its high resistance against harsh conditions, millets are sustainable to the environment, to the farmer growing it, and provide cheap and high nutrient options for all.
• Millets do not get destroyed easily, and some of the millets are good for consumption even after 10-12 years of growing, thus providing food security, and playing an important role in keeping a check on food wastage.

Millets and India 

• According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) , India is the largest producer of millet in the world  followed by Niger and China .
• The total production of millets in India in 2020-21 was 17.96 million tonnes which was nearly 41% of the world production.
• Rajasthan was the largest millet producing state in India.
• Millets are grown in about 21 states in the country including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana.
• India was the 5th largest exporter of millet in the world in 2020 according to the Union ministry of Commerce data.

International Year of Millets 2023

• To highlight the importance of millets, India proposed in the United Nations to declare 2023 as the International Year of the Millets.
•  The proposal was accepted and passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2021 and 2023 was declared as the International Year of Millets.