The United Nations has declared the year 2023 as ‘the international year of Millets”. Its aim is to create awareness among the people of the world about nutritional and ecological benefits of the millets. It also aims to encourage people to consume millets for healthy life and economic benefit as well. Millets have tremendous potential to achieve many important goals of sustainable development particularly SDG2 (Zero Hunger), SDG3 (Good Health & Wellbeing), SDG12 (Sustainable Consumption & Production) and SDG13 (Climate Action). Millets can address the issue of food security, nutrition security and economic security. For the past two decades, the world is grappling with many pressing issues particularly global warming, climate change, water crisis, inflation, decreased food production, increased life style diseases, decreased sustainable cultivation etc. in order to address these burning and pressing issues, the UNO and the FAO emphasised all the countries adoption of millets cultivation and their consumption in dietary habits. Due to change in dietary habits in the modern world, millet production and their consumption by people have drastically decreased in the world. In India, only 11% of total sown area for food grain comes under millets that account for only 6% of food grain output. There has been indiscriminate use of junk foods by the modern people in contemporary times that is worrisome as the junk foods are rich in sugar, fat content, and less in fibre, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. The intake of junk foods rich in calories increase risk of many diseases like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis, fatty liver disease, PCOD (PolyCystic Ovarian Disease), cardiovascular disease, thyroid disease and many others among the people. Carbohydrate and fat rich junk foods also increase blood pressure and chances of brain haemorrhage due to deposition of cholesterol level in blood vessels.Millets are known for their exceptional nutritional value and versatility. They have innumerable benefits and their consumption is good for the welfare of people and the environment. Millets are climate resilient ideal crops that require very less water and fertilizers to grow compared to other cereal crops. They have been cultivated in different parts of the world particularly in Africa and Asia. They are not only resistant to climatic stress, pests and diseases but require less input and maintenance costs. Millets are cheap, economical and environment friendly. They can be easily cultivated in arid, semi-arid and less fertile lands. Millets are generally two types depending upon their grain size as major millets and minor millets. The major millets commonly grown in India are jowar (sorghum), Bajra (pearl millet) and ragi (finger millet) and the minor millets grown in India are Kodo millet, little millet, Proso millet, barnyard millet. Both types of millets have their own importance and advantages. Millets are called “Super food” or “power house of nutrition” because they are rich in energy, fibre, proteins, good fats, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins’. Millets are also a source of a variety of micronutrients like calcium, thiamine, phosphorus and magnesium. They are called “nutri-cereals” as they provide most of the nutrients required for the normal functioning of the body. Millets are safe and healthy food that maintain physical wellbeing. Millets reduce triglycerides in the body and risk many human diseases that cost a heavy toll. Millets help in reducing inflammatory bowel diseases due to their rich fibre content. Millets reduce body weight, blood pressure; constipation, cramping and gastrointestinal problems, and they also act as a detoxifying agent in our body. Despite immense benefits of millets, millets have been largely neglected in modern diets due to shifts in other cereals like wheat, rice and corn. Chefs in India prepare different kinds of tasty recipes from millets. Millets are used to make bread, porridge, snacks and noodles. It would be better for the people to take millets for keeping away chronic lifestyle diseases for healthy life. Millets are climate smart crops and called as “crops of the future” due to resilience to climate change. Millet cultivation consumes very less water and helps in reduction of stress on environmental resources particularly in regions affected by climate change, drought, land degradation, soil erosion, and water scarcity. Millets cultivation is good for soil health and does not cause soil erosion. Millet cultivation reduces more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and releases more oxygen into the atmosphere therefore contributes significantly in mitigating climate change. As per the study conducted in India, bioethanol called biodiesel can be prepared from the species of millets particularly sorghum (jowar) and pearl millet (bajra) and the use of biodiesel will definitely reduce carbon emissions by about half.
To make India a major supplier of millets in the world, great efforts are being done in the form of awareness raising among people and sound financial support is provided to the farmers. Doctors and nutritionists across India are also advising people avoiding junk foods and intake of fibre rich diets particularly millets. Keeping in view the present issues like climate change, global warming, rising lifestyle diseases, land degradation, depleting soil fertility, water crisis etc., various stakeholders need to come forward particularly farmers, start-ups’, environmental activists, conscious citizens, government agencies, NGOs, Environment policy Group Members, green citizen council members in supporting and promoting the millets.
To promote and increase millets demand in India, the government of India has launched many important schemes for farmers particularly Integrated Cereals Development Programmes in coarse cereals (ICDP-CC), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY), Macro Management Agriculture (MAA), and Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millet Production (INSIMP). The government of India has also declared 2018 as the National Year of the Millets aimed at promotion of millets production. Millets being nutritious, sustainable and affordable food options, The Jammu and Kashmir government has also approved an ambitious Rs 15 crore project for promoting an enhancing millet production and consumption in the state. Due to lack of awareness among farmers about millet’s importance and less demand of millets in markets across the world, only a smaller number of farmers are taking the benefits of millet cultivation schemes. To make India a major supplier of millets in the world, great efforts are being done in the form of awareness raising among people and sound financial support is provided to the farmers. Doctors and nutritionists across India are also advising people avoiding junk foods and intake of fibre rich diets particularly millets. Keeping in view the present issues like climate change, global warming, rising lifestyle diseases, land degradation, depleting soil fertility, water crisis etc., various stakeholders need to come forward particularly farmers, start-ups’, environmental activists, conscious citizens, government agencies, NGOs, Environment policy Group Members, green citizen council members in supporting and promoting the millets. Promotion of millets’ in India will not only generate employment opportunities but also will reduce lifestyle diseases, increase life expectancy of people and play an important role in making our climate sustainable.
(The author is a teacher at Govt Boys Higher Secondary School Beerwa. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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