1. Agriculture Ministry organises Millet Food Festival in Parliament
Tags: Festivals National News
To raise awareness about the importance of millets, the Ministry of Agriculture organised the Millet Food Festival in Parliament on 20 December.
Important facts
During the Millet food festival, branding of Millet and recipes displayed and millet-based food items served to the Members of Parliament in the Parliament House premises.
Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations organised the opening ceremony of the International Year of Millets – 2023 (IYOM 2023) in Rome, Italy.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) accepted the proposal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to celebrate 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
As the global agrifood systems face challenges to feed an ever-growing global population, resilient cereals like millet provide an affordable and nutritious option.
2. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar host a millet based lunch in New York for Top UN diplomats
Tags: place in news Person in news International News
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hosted a millets based lunch in New York on 15 December 2022 for the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and other top diplomats of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) member states to commemorate the International Year of Millets 2023 (IYM 2023).
The External Affairs minister was in New York to chair two key UNSC debates being held under the Presidency of India. India is the President of the UNSC for the month of December 2022. India’s 2 year term as the non -permanent member of the UNSC ends on 31 December 2022.
The United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session in March 2021, had adopted an Indian sponsored resolution to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
In his message at the opening ceremony of the International Year of Millets at Rome, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that “India will steer the IYM 2023 celebrations worldwide and organise campaigns to promote the cultivation and consumption of millets,"
Millet is one of the oldest known foods to humans .They are called a superfood as they are rich in nutrients such as copper, magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese. They are low on glycaemic index.
3. Opening Ceremony of International Year of Millets 2023 held in Rome, Italy
Tags: place in news International News
The United Nations agency Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hosted an opening ceremony of the International Year of Millets – 2023 (IYM2023) in Rome, Italy on 6 December 2022 in a hybrid mode.
An Indian delegation led by Shobha Karandlaje, Minister of State, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare along with other senior officials were present at the opening ceremony.
Shobha Karandlaje conveyed PM Modi’s compliments to the United Nations for declaring the Year 2023 as the International Year of Millets. PM, through his message, thanked the global community for supporting India’s proposal to mark the International Year of Millets (IYM).
PM Modi said that “India will steer the IYM2023 celebrations worldwide and organise campaigns to promote the cultivation and consumption of Millets, both in India and abroad during the next year.”
Speaking on the occasion, Director General, FAO Mr. QU Dongyu said the IYM2023 will provide us with a unique opportunity to give visibility to crops that have great potential to strengthen global nutrition, food security.
Millets and India
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), India is the largest producer of millet in the world.
- The total production of millets in India in 2020-21 was 17.96 million tonnes which was nearly 41% of the world production.
- Rajasthan was the largest millet producing state in India.
- Millets are grown in about 21 states in the country including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana.
- India was the 5th largest exporter of millet in the world in 2020 .
FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation)
- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security.
- It was founded in 1945.
- Its headquarters is in Rome (Italy).
- It was conferred with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020
Director General: QU Dongyu
4. Millets- Smart Nutritious Food Conclave held in New Delhi
Tags: Summits National News
To promote the export of millets, a one-day 'Millets-Smart Nutritive Food' conclave was organised by the government on 5th December in New Delhi.
Important facts
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was the chief guest of the conclave.
It was organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry through its apex agricultural export promotion body, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
Its purpose is to promote the export of millets.
This is the first conclave to be held in the pre-launch program of the International Year of Millets - 2023 (IYOM - 2023).
In the Conclave, Farmer Producer Organisations, startups, exporters, producers of millets based value added products participated.
In the conclave, exhibition and B2B meetings were also organized to showcase Indian millets and millet based products.
Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel was the guest of honour at the conclave.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) announced on March 5, 2021 that 2023 will be observed as the International Year of Millets (IYOM).
The government is currently organising IYOM-2023 at domestic and international level to popularise Indian millets and its value added products across the world and make it a mass movement.
5. Pre-launch celebration of International Year of Millets held in New Delhi
Tags: Festivals National News
A pre-launch celebration of the International Year of Millets held on 24 November in New Delhi.
Important facts
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) are hosting this special event.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar attended the event.
During the event, both the ministers shared the government's vision for the successful conduct of the International Year of Millets 2023.
High Commissioners and Ambassadors of over 60 countries attended the pre-launch ceremony.
Its main objective is to spread awareness about Indian Millets and associate with other countries for the successful global celebration of the International Year of Millets in 2023.
Recently at the G20 summit in Bali, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the benefits of millet saying that millet can solve the problem of global malnutrition and hunger.
He also highlighted that India is promoting natural farming and re-popularizing nutritious and traditional food grains like millets for sustainable food security.
6. Assam government launches millet mission to double the income of state farmers
Tags: Economy/Finance Government Schemes State News
The Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on 16 November 2022 launched the “Assam Millet Mission” aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and doubling the farmer’s income. The mission also aims at encouraging the farmers to diversify their crops. .
Along with the Millet mission the Chief Minister also launched six soil testing and quality control laboratories Bongaigaon, morigaon,Golaghat, Udalgiri,Karimganj and Darrang.
Initially the millet mission will cover 25,000 hectares of land and later it will be extended to 50,000 hectares.
Millets or coarse cereals or nutri cereals
- Millet is one of the oldest known foods to humans. However its consumption in the world has declined due to the emphasis given to wheat and rice by the governments.
- It is also called coarse cereals or nutri cereals due to its high nutritive value.
- Nutri-cereals refers to a group of crops comprising sorghum (Jowar), pearl millet (Bajra), finger millet (Ragi/Mandua), and small millets like little millet (Kutki), kodo millet (Kodo), barnyard millet (Sawa/Jhangora), foxtail millet (Kangni/Kakun), and proso millet (Cheena).
- They are called a superfood as they are rich in nutrients such as copper, magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese. They are low on glycemic index.
Millets and India
- According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) , India is the largest producer of millet in the world followed by Niger and China .
- The total production of millets in India in 2020-21 was 17.96 million tonnes which was nearly 41% of the world production.
- Rajasthan was the largest millet producing state in India.
- Millets are grown in about 21 states in the country including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana.
- India was the 5th largest exporter of millet in the world in 2020 according to the Union ministry of Commerce data.
International Year of Millets 2023
- To highlight the importance of millets, India proposed in the United Nations to declare 2023 as the International Year of the Millets.
- The proposal was accepted and passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2021 and 2023 was declared as the International Year of Millets.
7. Vice President Dhankhar calls for free and open Indo-Pacific region at the 17th East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh
Tags: place in news Summits Person in news
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar speaking at the 17th East Asia Summit meeting being held in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on 13 November 2022 highlighted India’s concern on food and security and emphasized the role of the East Asia Summit (EAS) in promoting free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific with freedom of navigation and overflight.
The 17th EAS is being hosted by the current ASEAN (Association of SouthEast Asian Nations) chairman Cambodia.
Earlier speaking in the summit the American President Joe Biden and the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also highlighted the aggressive behaviour of China in the South China Sea and called for peace in the Taiwan Strait and ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar also called upon the EAS members’ full contribution to the International Year of Millets in 2023.
Vice President visit to Cambodia
The Vice President was on a three day (11-13 November) visit to Cambodia to attend the 19th India-ASEAN summit meeting which has been designated as the commemorative summit, to mark the 30 years of Indian ASEAN relationship.
This year is also being celebrated as ASEAN-India Friendship Year.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is accompanying Vice-President Dhankhar on this visit.
Observer Research Foundation signs Mou with AVI
On the sideline of the summit meeting Observer Research Foundation (ORF) of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a leading Cambodian think tank AVI.
The two institutions engaged in the realm of public policy will endeavour to cooperate more closely to enhance their mutual understanding on a range of issues from geopolitics and international relations to sustainable development and cultural engagement.
East Asia Summit
- The East Asia summit group consists of 18 countries.
- The concept of an East Asia Grouping was first promoted in 1991 by the then Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad.
- It was set up in 2005 as a forum to promote strategic dialogue and cooperation on political, security and economic issues of common regional concern in the Asia-Pacific region.
- Initially it consisted of ASEAN members (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam) and China, Japan ,South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
- The United States of America and Russia were included in 2011.
8. Odisha celebrated 'Mandia Day'
Tags: State News Important Days
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced to observe the first Thursday of the Margasira month of the Hindu calendar on November 10 as 'Mandia Day' or 'Millet Day' in the state.
Important facts
Its objective is to popularise and promote the use and cultivation of superfood- millet among the people.
Odisha has become the first state in the country to declare November 10 as a day dedicated to millets.
The state government started the Odisha Millet Mission in the year 2017-18.
It is a flagship program of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment.
Initially Millet Mission was implemented in 30 blocks of seven districts of the state. Now it is being implemented in 142 blocks of 19 districts.
On the first Thursday of Margasira month people across the state worship Mahalaxmi and offer millet to the goddess of wealth and prosperity.
Apart from millet snacks, ragi sweets have also been included in the mid-day meals of schools in Sundergarh and Keonjhar districts.
The United Nations General Assembly has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets after India proposed it to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
About Millets
Millets are high nutrient cereal crops and are classified as small seeded grasses.
They include jowar (sorghum), ragi (finger millet), korra (foxtail millet), arke (kodo millet), sama (little millet), bajra (pearl millet), chena/barr (proso millet) and sanwa (barnyard millet).
India is one of the major producers of millets in the world with an estimated share of about 41% in the global production.
Major producers of millets are Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.
Millet has been notified as a nutritional cereal by the government in April 2018.
They are a rich source of protein, fiber, minerals, iron, and calcium and have a low glycemic index.
The production of millets in India has increased by 16 % to 17.26 million tonnes (MT) in the 2019-20 crop year (July-June) from 14.5 MT in 2015-16.
In March 2021, India led a UN General Assembly resolution to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
India's proposal was supported by 72 countries.
India is the 5th largest exporter of Millets globally.
9. India hosted the 2nd BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministers meeting
Tags: National National News
India hosted the Second Agriculture Ministerial-level meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) at New Delhi on 10 November under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar.
Important facts
Agriculture ministers of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in the meeting.
Tomar urged the member countries to develop a comprehensive regional strategy to strengthen cooperation for transformation in agriculture.
Referring to the International Year of Millets - 2023, he urged for adopting a healthy diet for all.
He asked the participating countries to actively participate in India's initiative to promote coarse cereals as food.
About 2nd BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministerial Meeting
The meeting adopted the Action Plan for Strengthening BIMSTEC Agricultural Cooperation (2023-2027).
An MoU was signed between the BIMSTEC Secretariat and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and approval was given to bring the fisheries and livestock sub-sectors under the Agriculture Working Group.
About BIMSTEC
BIMSTEC was established in 1997.
It includes five countries of South Asia – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and two countries of South-East Asia – Myanmar and Thailand.
10. MoU signed between Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and NAFED
Tags: National National News
The Department of Agriculture Farmers Welfare and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on October 4 to celebrate and promote millet as the International Year of Millet 2023.
Important facts
Keeping in view the initiative of International Year of Millet (IYOM)-2023, both the organizations will work together for promotion and marketing of millet based products.
India is preparing to put nutritious cereals back on the world map.
Under the MoU, maximum value creation and support for coarse grain based products, organized promotion, market and effective market linkages will be established across the country.
International Year of Millet (IYOM)-2023
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted India's resolution and declared 2023 as the International Year of millets in March 2021.
India's proposal received the support of 72 countries.
In 2021, NITI Aayog signed a letter of intent with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).
The partnership focuses on mainstreaming millets and helping India take a global lead in promoting its health benefits.
The objective of this partnership is to build resilient livelihoods for smallholder farmers and to build adaptability to climate change and changing food systems.
Why is millet called a superfood?
India is the 5th largest exporter of Millets globally.
Millets are one of the oldest food items in the country.
Known as a superfood, Millets can address issues related to nutritional security, food system security and farmers' welfare.
These are a rich source of protein, fibre, minerals, iron, calcium and have a low glycemic index.
They are known for their nutrient rich content and certain characteristics like drought tolerance, photo-insensitivity, resilience to climate change etc.
They can be cultivated with less water and less cost.
It can also grow well in dry areas or on land with low fertility.
What are Millets?
They include jowar (sorghum), ragi (finger millet), korra (foxtail millet), arke (kodo millet), sama (little millet), bajra (pearl millet), chena/barr (proso millet) and sanwa (barnyard millet).
