Union Minister of State for Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel on June 23 inaugurated the National Conference on Millets on the theme ‘The Future Super Food for India’ in New Delhi.
- It was organised by industry body ASSOCHAM with the support of Food Processing Industries. The conference has been organised to discuss opportunities and challenges in ensuring food and nutritional security.
- The Union Minister said that the production of coarse cereals in the country has increased to 17.96 million tonnes in 2020-21 from 14.52 million tonnes in 2015-16 and the production of bajra (pearl millet) has also increased to 10.86 million tonnes in the same period.
- The Minister shared that due to their short growing season, millets can develop from seeds to ready-to-harvest crops in just about 65 days and this characteristic of the millets is of vital importance in thickly populated regions of the world. If stored properly, millets can keep well for two years or beyond.
About Millet
- Millets are among the first plants to be domesticated and are considered “nutri-cereals” due to their high nutritional content.
- Millets are 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.
- Millet is a cereal grain that belongs to the Poaceae family, commonly known as the grass family.
- Millet has gained popularity in the developed countries because it’s gluten-free and boasts high protein, fiber, and antioxidant contents.
- Year 2023 will be the international year of millets.
Schemes
- The major millets producing states in India include Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
- To promote cultivation and consumption of millets, Government of India introduced Scheme on “Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millet Promotion (INSIMP)” in 2011-12.
- These crops have been included as an integral part of National Food Security Mission during XII Plan.
- There is a “Sub Mission on Millets” under National Food Security Mission since 2018.
- Coarse cereals have also been included in Public Distribution System at subsidized rates after introduction of National Food Security Act.
- Millets included under POSHAN MISSION Abhiyan by Ministry of Women & Child Development.
Coarse cereals
- Coarse cereals are traditionally grown in resource poor agro-climatic regions of the country.
- Coarse cereals include Sorghum, Pearl millet, Ragi, Small millets, Maize and Barley.
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