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In News
- Recently, the Prime Minister of India, along with fellow parliamentarians across party lines, enjoyed a lunch made of millets to raise awareness on millets.
Millets
- About:
- The term millet is used to describe small-grained cereals like sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), foxtail millet (kangni/ Italian millet), little millet (kutki), kodo millet, finger millet (ragi/ mandua), proso millet (cheena/ common millet), barnyard millet (sawa/ sanwa/ jhangora), and brown top millet (korale).
- Several varieties that are now grown around the world were first cultivated in India.
- West Africa, China, and Japan are also home to indigenous varieties of the crop.
- Global Scenario:
- Globally, sorghum (jowar) is the biggest millet crop.
- The major producers of jowar are the United States, China, Australia, India, Argentina, Nigeria, and Sudan.
- Bajra is another major millet crop; India and some African countries are major producers.
- Production in India:
- In India, millets are mainly a kharif crop.
- During 2018-19, three millet crops — bajra (3.67%), jowar (2.13%), and ragi (0.48%) — accounted for about 7 percent of the gross cropped area in the country.
- Jowar is mainly grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh.
Image Courtesy: IE
- Consumption of millets- It was reported mainly from these states:
- Gujarat (jowar and bajra),
- Karnataka (jowar and ragi),
- Maharashtra (jowar and bajra),
- Rajasthan (bajra), and
- Uttarakhand (ragi).
- Benefits:
- Millets are eco-friendly crops – require much less water than rice and wheat.
- Can be grown in rainfed areas without additional irrigation.
- They are highly nutritious.
- Higher protein, fat and fiber content: Millets contain 7-12% protein, 2-5% fat, 65-75% carbohydrates and 15-20% dietary fiber.
2023: the Year of Millets
Nutri Cereals
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Source: IE
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