What comes to your mind when you hear the word “millets”? Yeah! I caught you…you thought health, nutrition and related things, right? Millets are called coarse cereals but are now increasingly called Nutri-cereals because of their health benefits.

Forgotten small millets that are gaining popularity recently…

India celebrated it’s national year of millets in 2018 to increase the millets production. FAO accepted India’s proposal to declare 2023 as the International year of millets. The cultivation of millets is mentioned in the oldest Yajur Veda texts ( Indian Bronze age -4500 BC). Millets cultivation is also mentioned in our Sangam literature. (Remember our age-old mouth-watering dishes like ragi kali, ragi puttu, cumbu koozl ).

HEALTH BENEFITS OF MILLETS:
• Magnesium and ligases in millets have heart-protective properties.
• They help in the development and repair of body tissues as they contain phosphorous.
• They reduce the risk of diabetes (type -2).
• They are rich in insoluble fibres and so prevent the formation of gallstones and avoid the risk of breast cancer.
• They also prevent childhood asthma.
• Millets are non- glutinous, highly nutritious and are easily digestible.
• Millets can keep us hunger-free for long hours which prevents binge eating and therefore obesity.

ADVANTAGES OF MILLET PRODUCTION:
• They can grow in harsh environments and are drought resistant.
• They require fewer inputs.
• They serve dual purpose _ food and fodder.
• Increasing millet production and decreasing rice and wheat production can mitigate climate change due to lower CO2 emissions.
• They can be stored for a long time and can decrease food grain wastage, which is now 40% of the total food grain production.
• They do not require any input of chemical fertilizers.


HOW CAN WE INCREASE MILLET PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION?
• Breeding works in millets should be carried out to produce high yielding varieties of millets.
• We can use underutilized lands for the cultivation of millets.
• A new research shows that bio-irrigation (growing shrubs in the field in rows along with millets) increases the millet yield.
• We should create awareness among the youths about the benefits of consuming millets.
• More value added products from millets should be released to attract more consumers.
• The government should distribute millets in the PDS system at fair prices to ensure the intake of millets by all the people.
• MSP should be fixed for all millets to divert the farmer’s attention towards millets production.


The government of India has introduced many schemes like Integrated Cereals Development Programme (ICDP-CC), Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millet Promotion (INSIMP), Rainfed Area Development Programme (RADP) to encourage the millets production.
Though there are some constrains in millet production like soil nutrient degradation and higher consumption may lead to some thyroid problems, it can be solved by crop rotation and moderate consumption of millets (30- 40 g of grains/day) along with proper hydration.


India is in the 64th position in the Global Hunger Index out of 81 countries. We are in the 2nd position in the child malnutrition. We can easily evade these problems by increasing the proportion of millets in our daily diet. Let’s expect a positive change in our ssociety.


RESOURCE CREDIT :
https://www.idrc.ca/en/project/increasing-millet-production-south-asia.
http://newsnet.iijnm.org/challenges-in-millet-farming/
https://byjus.com/govt-exams/millets-in-india/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/wellnessmunch.com/how-to-enjoy-millet-benefits-without-any-side-effects/amp/


BY :
L.M.Deepika, Third year, B.Sc (Hons.) Agriculture, Kumaraguru Institute of Agriculture, Erode.

E.mail- deepika.17ag@kia.ac.in