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Indian Food Sector Goes Millet Way

To keep itself in sync with the United Nations General Assembly’s announcement to mark 2023 as the International Year of Millet (IYOM), the Indian government has ordered all its offices to introduce and promote millets in their meetings and canteens. The earliest evidence of millets was found in Indus Civilisation in 3,000 BC. Grown in 131 countries, millets is a traditional food for 59 crore people in Asia and Africa

Indian government plans to serve millets-based food to mark 2023 as International Year of Millet.

To keep itself in sync with the United Nations General Assembly’s announcement to mark 2023 as the International Year of Millet (IYOM), the Indian government has ordered all its offices to introduce and promote millets in their meetings and canteens.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution of the Indian government tweeted: “To increase procurement/ consumption of millets in view of the International Year of Millet 2023 and health benefits of these commodities, #DFPD has directed all its offices/CPSES to introduce millet based products in their respective canteens and in meetings etc.”

According to a paper published by the Indian government in April 2022, the earliest evidence of millets was found in Indus Civilisation in 3,000 BC. Grown in 131 countries, millets is a traditional food for 59 crore people in Asia and Africa.

Millets are collective group of small seeded annual grasses that are grown as grain crops, primarily on marginal land in dry areas of temperate, sub tropical and tropical regions.

The top five states that produce millets in India are – Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on the MyGov platform has launched various competitions to raise awareness of the benefits of millets. The competition includes designing a comic story contest, “Mighty Millet Quiz” and “Millet Startup Innovation Challenge”.

The Millet Startup Innovation Challenge was launched on September 10, 2022. This initiative encourages young minds to offer technological/ business solutions to the existing problems in the millets ecosystem. The challenge will remain open till January 31, 2023.

India is the largest producer of millet in the world. Accounting for 20 per cent of global production and 80 per cent of Asia’s production.

It was in 2018 that the government of India decided to mark the National Year of Millets. In the same year, the government also notified millets as nutri-cereals and included them under the POSHAN Mission Abhiyan.
Later, India pitched the proposal to United Nations for declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets. As a result, with the support of 72 other countries, India’s initiative to promote millet was recognized and United Nations General Assembly has recently declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets.

Now, Government of India has decided to celebrate IYOM, 2023 to make it peoples’ movement so that the Indian millets, recipes, value added products are accepted globally.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also highlighted the benefits of Millets to both farmers and consumers in one of the editions of his monthly radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’.

Millets are called the super grain because of their high nutritional value. According to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) millets are high in dietary fibre. Specifically, millet contains 7-12 per cent protein, 2-5 per cent fat, 65-75 per cent carbohydrates and 15-20 per cent dietary fibre. Due to their high density of nutrients including vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and dietary fibre, millets are also excellent grains to alleviate malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency. Additionally, millets do not require high-quality soil to grow and hence can easily cater to the need of the growing population.

The nutritional value of millets makes it even more relevant globally in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of its mass awareness the Indian government plans to serve mid-day meal in schools and Anganwadis at least one day a week, also buffets at hotels to have millet focus at least one millet dish. Online platforms and delivery agents will also popularise millets. Also organise events in various groups, schools, colleges, universities, industry and civil societies to spread awareness regarding millets.

ALSO READ: Tribal women spearhead mission to promote millets

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Tribal women spearhead mission to promote millets

Awareness-building activities were organised, such as food festivals, cooking competitions, and celebrating local millet food cultures…reports Abhijit Mohanty

The Odisha Millets Mission (OMM), a flagship initiative of the state government of Odisha, has supported women self-help groups (WSHGs) to set up 76 ‘millet tiffin centres’ at various community locations in 13 tribal-dominated districts.

The initiative has fortified the strength and conscientiousness of women collectives by setting up primary processing and post-harvesting units for millets in rural areas.

These millet-based enterprises can become a comprehensive solution in addressing malnutrition, unemployment and in motivating farmers to increase their millet cultivation area, which was once reduced due to aggressive promotion of cash crops, claim civil society organisations facilitating the implementation of OMM at the grassroots.

To revive millets as “Nutri-Cereals” in the state, OMM has prioritised creating awareness about production, productivity, consumption and marketing of millet produce and including millets in the state nutrition programme.

Awareness-building activities were organised, such as food festivals, cooking competitions, and celebrating local millet food cultures. Participatory training programmes were also conducted for WSHGs on millet recipes and millet enterprises.

Millet Tiffin Centres

Millet tiffin centres were launched in rural areas to create a demand for millet recipes and ensure access to diet diversity that is locally acceptable and highly nutritious. The WSHGs entirely manage these centres. They prepare a range of millet-based hot cooked items and ready to cook products.

“We prepare pakoda, samosa, jalebi, idli, vada, kheer and kakare from ragi and little millets,” Dasmati Sunani, President, Dakua WSHG in Sundargarh’s Rajgangpur block said.

“Initially, we had no idea how people would react to our tiffin centre. However, today, we are happy. The demand for our food (millet recipes) is growing. Last month we earned around Rs 25000 as net profit,” she added.

Phulbasa Barla, Dakua WSHG member, recalled that initially their tiffin centres faced some resistance from locals. “For years, it has been unheard of for women from our village to be involved in businesses. However, gradually, things are changing. Today, we are more organised as a group, and people respect us and love our food,” beamed Barla.

In Sundargarh, six millet tiffin centres were established between December 2021 and January 2022. An additional 21 such centres have been approved, and the memorandum of understanding was signed among the WSHG, Project Director, Agricultural Technology Management Agency and District Social Welfare Officer. To set up these tiffin centres, the OMM has sponsored Rs.30,000 for each WSHG.

Millet Shakti Cafe

Efforts have also been made to promote millet consumption in urban areas. For instance, in the collectorate campus of Keonjhar district, a Millet Shakti Cafe was established in October 2021. Ma Mission Shakti Women Federation manages the cafe, which offers different food items made from millets such as biscuits, mixture, khurma, rose cake, ladoo and eight grain varieties, including ragi flour, sorghum flour, little and barnyard millets. The cafe also provides tea, coffee and snacks to attract customers.

“We earn around Rs 50,000 as profit per month,” said Suprabha Mahanto, a federation member said. As the demand for millet food recipes has been growing in the district, around 200-300 customers regularly visit this cafe per day. To expand our customer base, we are also providing home delivery services,” added Mahanto.

In Keonjhar, about 30 years ago, millet cultivation and consumption used to be widespread, recalled a retired agriculture officer in the district. “Earlier, millets were known as poor man’s food,” said Nalini Murmu, Secretary, Maa Padmaja Farmers Producer Company Limited. She added that people preferred commercial crops like paddy and replaced their traditional mixed method of cultivation with the mono-cropping system.

“OMM has revived people’s traditional millet-based diet, which is climate-resilient and boosts immunity,” highlighted Shishir Kumar Sarangi, former project coordinator, Mission Shakti, Keonjhar. He played an instrumental role in setting up the Millet Shakti Cafe. “This is a first of its kind initiative in the state. We are hopeful that more such cafes will be established in future,” he said.

In the state capital Bhubaneswar, a similar initiative has been taken up by Shaktimayee Ward Women Federation members. They have established a ‘Millet Outlet’ in Kurshi Bhawan a range of packaged millet food items is available such as ragi and sorghum flour, ragi cookies, ragi ladoos, ragi mixture, khurma and mudki. The federation earns around Rs.3000-4000 per day from selling various millet products.

Expansion of OMM

Initially, the OMM was launched in 30 blocks in seven districts and subsequently scaled up to 84 blocks in 15 districts, covering more than 1.2 lakh farmers with 52 thousand hectares under sustainable agronomic practices. Recently, the state government has allocated Rs 2800 crore to expand the OMM to 142 blocks in 2022.

Considering its visible impact, the OMM model has received numerous recognitions from other state governments and credible institutions. Niti Aayog has pledged to facilitate the inclusion of millets in the Integrated Child Development Services, Mid-day Meal and Public Distribution Services in different states as part of Poshaan Abhiyan as per the learning of OMM.

“Odisha Millet Mission is a replicable initiative,” said Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. In order to popularise millets across the state and national level, there is a need to engage with multiple stakeholders, including doctors, chefs and nutritionists. Also, he emphasised that it was essential to strengthen millet farming policies and institutional interventions that are inclusive and market-oriented.

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’. In India, the recent announcement during the 2022-23 Union Budget of supporting post-harvest value addition, enhancing consumption and branding millets further heightens the crucial role OMM could play in reinforcing the supply chain and promoting millets from farm to plate.

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Categories
India News Lite Blogs

Tribal women spearhead mission to promote millets

Millet tiffin centres were launched in rural areas to create a demand for millet recipes and ensure access to diet diversity that is locally acceptable and highly nutritious…reports Abhijit Mohanty

The Odisha Millets Mission (OMM), a flagship initiative of the state government of Odisha, has supported women self-help groups (WSHGs) to set up 76 ‘millet tiffin centres’ at various community locations in 13 tribal-dominated districts.

The initiative has fortified the strength and conscientiousness of women collectives by setting up primary processing and post-harvesting units for millets in rural areas.

These millet-based enterprises can become a comprehensive solution in addressing malnutrition, unemployment and in motivating farmers to increase their millet cultivation area, which was once reduced due to aggressive promotion of cash crops, claim civil society organisations facilitating the implementation of OMM at the grassroots.

To revive millets as “Nutri-Cereals” in the state, OMM has prioritised creating awareness about production, productivity, consumption and marketing of millet produce and including millets in the state nutrition programme.

Awareness-building activities were organised, such as food festivals, cooking competitions, and celebrating local millet food cultures. Participatory training programmes were also conducted for WSHGs on millet recipes and millet enterprises.

Millet Tiffin Centres

Millet tiffin centres were launched in rural areas to create a demand for millet recipes and ensure access to diet diversity that is locally acceptable and highly nutritious. The WSHGs entirely manage these centres. They prepare a range of millet-based hot cooked items and ready to cook products.

“We prepare pakoda, samosa, jalebi, idli, vada, kheer and kakare from ragi and little millets,” Dasmati Sunani, President, Dakua WSHG in Sundargarh’s Rajgangpur block, said.

“Initially, we had no idea how people would react to our tiffin centre. However, today, we are happy. The demand for our food (millet recipes) is growing. Last month we earned around Rs 25000 as net profit,” she added.

Phulbasa Barla, Dakua WSHG member, recalled that initially, their tiffin centres faced some resistance from locals. “For years, it has been unheard of for women from our village to be involved in businesses. However, gradually, things are changing. Today, we are more organised as a group, and people respect us and love our food,” beamed Barla.

In Sundargarh, six millet tiffin centres were established between December 2021 and January 2022. An additional 21 such centres have been approved, and the memorandum of understanding was signed among the WSHG, Project Director, Agricultural Technology Management Agency and District Social Welfare Officer. To set up these tiffin centres, the OMM has sponsored Rs.30,000 for each WSHG.

Millet Shakti Cafe

Efforts have also been made to promote millet consumption in urban areas. For instance, in the collectorate campus of Keonjhar district, a Millet Shakti Cafe was established in October 2021. Ma Mission Shakti Women Federation manages the cafe, which offers different food items made from millets such as biscuits, mixture, khurma, rose cake, ladoo and eight grain varieties, including ragi flour, sorghum flour, little and barnyard millets. The cafe also provides tea, coffee and snacks to attract customers.

“We earn around Rs 50,000 as profit per month,” said Suprabha Mahanto, a federation member. As the demand for millet food recipes has been growing in the district, around 200-300 customers regularly visit this cafe per day. To expand our customer base, we are also providing home delivery services,” added Mahanto.

In Keonjhar, about 30 years ago, millet cultivation and consumption used to be widespread, recalled a retired agriculture officer in the district. “Earlier, millets were known as poor man’s food,” said Nalini Murmu, Secretary, Maa Padmaja Farmers Producer Company Limited. She added that people preferred commercial crops like paddy and replaced their traditional mixed method of cultivation with the mono-cropping system.

“OMM has revived people’s traditional millet-based diet, which is climate-resilient and boosts immunity,” highlighted Shishir Kumar Sarangi, former project coordinator, Mission Shakti, Keonjhar. He played an instrumental role in setting up the Millet Shakti Cafe. “This is a first of its kind initiative in the state. We are hopeful that more such cafes will be established in future,” he said.

In the state capital Bhubaneswar, a similar initiative has been taken up by Shaktimayee Ward Women Federation members. They have established a ‘Millet Outlet’ in Kurshi Bhawan a range of packaged millet food items is available such as ragi and sorghum flour, ragi cookies, ragi ladoos, ragi mixture, khurma and mudki. The federation earns around Rs.3000-4000 per day from selling various millet products.

Expansion of OMM

Initially, the OMM was launched in 30 blocks in seven districts and subsequently scaled up to 84 blocks in 15 districts, covering more than 1.2 lakh farmers with 52 thousand hectares under sustainable agronomic practices. Recently, the state government has allocated Rs 2800 crore to expand the OMM to 142 blocks in 2022.

Considering its visible impact, the OMM model has received numerous recognitions from other state governments and credible institutions. Niti Aayog has pledged to facilitate the inclusion of millets in the Integrated Child Development Services, Mid-day Meal and Public Distribution Services in different states as part of Poshaan Abhiyan as per the learning of OMM.

“Odisha Millet Mission is a replicable initiative,” said Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. In order to popularise millets across the state and national level, there is a need to engage with multiple stakeholders, including doctors, chefs and nutritionists. Also, he emphasised that it was essential to strengthen millet farming policies and institutional interventions that are inclusive and market-oriented.

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’. In India, the recent announcement during the 2022-23 Union Budget of supporting post-harvest value addition, enhancing consumption and branding millets further heightens the crucial role OMM could play in reinforcing the supply chain and promoting millets from farm to plate.

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