Data Story : International Year of Millets (2022-23)

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During Budget 2022-23 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the year 2022-23 would be the 'International Year of Millets'. She also announced that support will be given for post-harvest value addition, enhancing domestic consumption and branding millet products nationally as well as internationally.

Millet is a collective term referring to a number of small-seeded annual grasses that are cultivated as grain crops, primarily on marginal lands in dry areas in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions. Some of the common millets available in India are Ragi (Finger millet), Jowar (Sorghum), Sama (Little millet), Bajra (Pearl millet), and Variga (Proso millet).

Millets are less expensive and nutritionally superior to wheat & rice owing to their high protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals like iron content. Millets can provide nutritional security and act as a shield against nutritional deficiency, especially among children and women. Its high iron content can fight high prevalence of anemia in India women of reproductive age and infants.

This data story provides valuable statistics of millet production and consumption in India.