Millet suited to climate change, curb lifestyle diseases
Source: Chronicle News Service / Sagolsem Bigyan

Imphal, January 31 2023: Millet is one of the most suitable cereal crops in the prevailing situation of climate change and it is also a healthy food, which could prevent several lifestyle diseases.

Due to its climate resilience and high nutrition value, millet is often called the nutri-cereal among the different types of cereals.

India is pushing forward to make the world aware of the health benefits and climate resilience of millet and consequently, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2023 as the International Year of Millet.

Speaking to The People's Chronicle in this regard, Central Agricultural University Imphal, Agronomy department, professor Leitam Nabachandra informed that millet is gaining popularity among the different types of cereals due to its high nutritional value.

India proposed to the UN for declaring 2023 as the Internal Year of Millet and got support from 70 countries following which UNGA made the declaration.

He explained that before the green revolution, prior to 1970s, millet was popular among the public.

However, millet production witnessed sharp decline after the green revolution, which paid more focus on production of rice, wheat and maize.

Before the green revolution, millet contributed to 20 per cent of total cereal production but the production capacity dipped to only 6 per cent after the green revolution.

Today, people are understanding the nutritional value of millet.

While the amount of carbohydrate one can get from millet is same as rice, wheat or maize, there is an advantage in consuming millet as it is rich in protein too.

Cultivation of rice requires large quantity of irrigation water and farmers are facing water shortage issues.

Amid such evolving situation, millet offers a viable solution to farmers as it is more drought resistant and requires little water and no fertiliser, he said.

Harvesting time for millet is three months and practicing double cropping is an easy option.

Since it can grow anywhere just like common grasses, millet does not require chemical fertiliser, which is also another added advantage to soil health.

Besides, millet does not attract pests and as such, there is no need for applying pesticides, the professor said.

As of today, India is the highest producer of millet with 70 per cent of the total production in the world coming from the country.

There are five species of millet mainly grown in the country and they are Bajra (peral millet), Kambu (fox tail millet), Jowar (Sorghum millet), Ragi (Finger millet) and Kodo (little millet) .

They are mainly grown in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Millet is known as Chanan in Manipur and production capacity is very low in the state.

However, puffed millet (Chanan Kabok) is a popular snack item.

With the modern infrastructure replacing hard work in various sectors, people are engaged in less physical works, which leads to several lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular issues.

As millets have high anti-oxidants and other nutrients, consuming millet as part of regular diet can prevent many of the lifestyle diseases, the professor said.

(This article has been published under Media Fellowship Programme in Scientific Journalism sponsored by Public Relation and Media Management (PRMM) Cell of the Central Agricultural University (CAU) Imphal.

For further information related with this article, please contact Dr Indira Thounaojam, Information and Publicity Officer, PRMM Cell, CAU through email id: [email protected]) .

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