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Global Millets (Shree Anna) Conference

  • Category
    Polity & Governance
  • Published
    24th Mar, 2023

Context

The Prime Minister inaugurated the Global Millets (Shree Anna) Conference in New Delhi.

About the conference:

  • It is a two-day global conference.
  • It will consists of sessions on all important issues related to millets (Shree Anna) like promotion and awareness of millets among producers, consumers and other stakeholders. 

What is Millet?

  • Millet is a collective term referring to a number of small-seeded annual grassesthat are cultivated as grain crops, primarily on marginal lands in dry areas in temperate, subtropical, and tropical regions.
  • Examples: jowar (sorghum), ragi (finger millet), Kodo (Kodo millet), kutki (little millet), kakun (foxtail millet), Sanwa (barnyard millet), cheena (proso millet), kuttu (buckwheat) and chaulai (amaranth).

Positives of millets:

  • Nutritionally superior traits:Millet’s score over rice and wheat in terms of minerals, vitamins, and dietary fibre content, as well as amino acid profile.
  • For example,Bajra (pearl millet) has iron, zinc, and protein levels comparable to that of wheat, but it’s gluten-free and has more fibre.

It can address the problem of “hidden hunger” arising from the consumption of energy-dense but micronutrients-deficient foods.

  • The rotis from bajra make one feel fuller for longer, as they take more time to digest and do not raise blood sugar levels too fast.

Advantages as a crop:

  • Millets are hardy and drought-resistant crops.
  • This has to do with their short duration (70-100 days, against 115-150 days for rice and wheat)
  • lower water requirement (350-500 mm versus 600-1,250 mm) and
  • Ability to grow even on poor soils and in hilly terrain.

Government Intervention:

  • The Centre has two existing schemes:
    • Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman and
    • Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 — with a combined budget of Rs 30,496.82 crore in 2022-23.
    • These can be better leveraged by making them more millets-focused.
  • MSP procurement of milletsshould be part of a decentralized nutritional programme specifically targeting tomorrow’s citizens.
  • Centre could fund any state willing to procure milletsspecific to their region exclusively for distribution through schools and anganwadis.

Verifying, please be patient.

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