Mighty Millets for Food, Nutrition and Health Security

Abstract

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets to promote the nutritional benefits and climate resilience of millets, an ancient food for over half a million people in Asia and Africa. Millets are produced in over 130 countries and are cultivated in rainfed regions, providing income and livelihood security to farmers. They are also known as ‘Smart Food’ due to their high protein, antioxidants, and micronutrient content, making them popular among celiac disease sufferers and those on gluten-free diets. However, global millet cultivation has declined significantly in the last five decades, with a 22.5 lakh ha area per decade decline. India is the largest producer of millets, with 37.5% of the total global output. The decline may be attributed to limitations in crop improvement efforts, shift towards high-value cash crops, inadequate policies, and low farm profitability. The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation organized an International conference on Mighty Millets for food, nutrition, and health security in August 2023. The paper emphasizes the need to achieve Food, Nutrition, and Health security through millets, adding gaps and priorities in research, innovation, development, extension, and policy domain to sustain efforts. Addressing these gaps and priorities is timely and imperative to sustain the efforts and ensure the sustainability of millets as a sustainable food source for millions of people worldwide.