Millets

Millets

Subject:Agriculture

Section: Crops

Context: Union Finance and Agriculture Ministers and Karnataka CM address the Millets Conclave at Raichur

Concept: Millets are often referred to as Superfood and its production can be seen as an approach for sustainable agriculture and a healthy world.

• These are essential climate resilient staple food crops grown in dryland agriculture that has occupied 68 per cent of the area under cultivation and produced 44 per cent of food requirements.
• Cultivating millets requires less water than rice, sugarcane and wheat, and will be suitable for small farmers.
• India is the largest consumer and accounts for 38 per cent of global demand.
• The three major millet crops currently grown in India are jowar (sorghum), bajra (pearl millet) and ragi (finger millet).
• Along with that, India grows a rich array of bio-genetically diverse and indigenous varieties of “small millets” like kodo, kutki, chennaand
• Major producers include Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.

Government Initiatives to promote consumption of Millets

• The government included the cereals in the (Targeted) Public Distribution System under the sub-mission ‘Nutri-cereals’ in
• Millets are also covered in the Price Support Scheme and the MSP of pearl and small millets range between ₹2,000 and ₹3,150 a quintal.
• The Union Agriculture Ministry, in April 2018, declared millets as “Nutri-Cereals”, considering their “high nutritive value” and also “anti-diabetic properties”.
• 2018 was also observed as ‘National Year of Millets”.