Parl to host an all-millets feast, PM to take part

The feast will be an all-millets affair and MPs from all parties will sit down to sample a variety of cuisine prepared from indigenous millets, such as ragi (finger millet), jowar (sorghum) and bajra (pearl millets).

The Union government will hold a millets food festival and lunch in Parliament on December 20, in which PM Narendra Modi will partake, to celebrate the International Year of Millets, 2023, which has been declared by the UN based on a proposal moved by India and endorsed by 70 nations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (ANI)

The feast will be an all-millets affair and MPs from all parties will sit down to sample a variety of cuisine prepared from indigenous millets, such as ragi (finger millet), jowar (sorghum) and bajra (pearl millets).

“Chefs will prepare a variety of healthy meals and dishes made from Indian millets. The preparations are being overseen by minister of state for agriculture Shobha Karandlaje,” an official with knowledge of the matter said.

Millets are hardy crops and make for highly nutritious grains grown mostly by the world’s poorest farmers, according to the UN’s FAO. India aims to raise exports of millets and also become a global hub for millet-based food products, according to a plan drawn up by the commerce ministry. India accounts for annual output of more than 17 million tonnes, or 80% of coarse cereals grown in Asia.

Officials from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research are working alongside chefs and culinary experts to identify several indigenous varieties of highly nutritious coarse cereals, the official said, adding the event will help raise health awareness.

On December 6, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for crop diversification and millet farming to enhance global food security and make agriculture climate resilient in a message delivered during the opening ceremony of International Year of Millets in Rome, the headquarters of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, an official statement said.

The earliest evidence for these grains has been found in the Indus civilization and they were one of the first plants to be domesticated for food, Modi had said.

“Millets are easy to grow, climate resilient and drought resistant. Millets are a rich source of balanced nutrition, compatible with natural ways of farming and need less water. They are good for the consumer, cultivator and climate,” the PM said.

In his message, Modi said the pandemic followed by a conflict situation had shown that food security was still a “concern for the planet”, adding that millets were a “good way to increase agricultural and dietary diversity”.