ABOUT INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF MILLETS 2022-23:
The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution, sponsored by India and supported by more than 70 countries, declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets. The resolution is intended to increase public awareness on the health benefits of millets and their suitability for cultivation under tough conditions marked by climate change.
Objectives:
Millets have been an integral part of our diet for centuries. In addition to a plethora of health benefits, millets are also good for the environment with low water & input requirement. With the aim to create awareness and increase production & consumption of millets, United Nations, at the behest of the Government of India, declared 2023 the International Year Millets.
A series of pre-launch events and initiatives have been organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare as a run-up to the International Year of Millets 2023 to create awareness and a sense of participation in the country around the ancient and forgotten golden grains.
Important link: https://www.mygov.in/campaigns/millets/
Activities:
| Sr.No. | Date | Activity | Description | Report | Gallery/ Video | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | |||||
| 6 | 28 February 2023 | 28 February 2023 | Workshop on Millets IIT Bombay and India Tourism Mumbai organized a joint workshop on February 28, 2023 at P.C. Saxena Auditorium. | To commemorate the International Year of Millets (2023), IIT Bombay and India Tourism Mumbai organized a joint workshop on February 28, 2023 at P.C. Saxena Auditorium. Students from various Mumbai colleges attended the workshop in large numbers. Mr. Jerson Fernandes, Executive Chef at Novotel Mumbai, hosted the session. Mr. D. Venkatesan, Regional Director (West and Central Region), India Tourism, welcomed everyone and introduced the guest speaker. Mr. Fernandes spoke about the importance of millet and why they are referred to as a superfood. He even conducted an on-the-spot quiz at the end of the workshop. Students, staff and faculty from the Institute also took part in the workshop. Click here for video recording of the workshop | Click here for photos | |
| 5 | February 2023 | February 2023 | Slogan-writing competition and Poster Making competition | IIT Bombay held a slogan-writing competition with the theme "India's Wealth, Millets for Health" and a poster-making competition with the theme "Millets to Millions" in February 2023 to raise awareness among students about the advantages of millets and its many nutrients. The participating students penned a number of creative slogans and came up with creative posters emphasizing the nutritional value of millet for healthy living. The event got an overwhelming response. The winning students were felicitated with attractive prizes and others received certificates of participation. | ||
| 4 | January 2023 | onwards | Millet Baazar | In order to encourage the use of millets, the Institute has been organizing a weekly millet bazaar for the IIT Bombay community. Farmers from various locations sell millets at the weekly market. | Click here for photos | |
3 | 13 January 2023 | Onwards | Introduction of Millet dishes: As part of celebrations of the "International Year of Millets", IIT Bombay has introduced Millet dishes at the Hostels and canteens from January 13, 2023 | Hostels, Staff Canteen in IIT Bombay have started millet-based dishes in their menu viz. Raagi dosa, bhakri, thalipetth, nachani chips. The standee banner and photographs are available at the following link: https://archive.library.iitb.ac.in/items/show/5164 In addition, IIT Bombay encouraged IIT Bombay community members to actively participate in the online activities hosted on the 'My Gov' portal around Millets: https://www.mygov.in/campaigns/millets/ | Click here for photos | |
2
| 23 Nov 2022 | 23 Nov 2022 | As part of our series for the "International Year of Millets", IIT Bombay organized a second Institute Talk. Details of the Talk are as follows: Title: 'Potential of Millets: From Farm to Plate' Speakers: Dr. Srijit Mishra, Professor and Dean Academic & Student Affairs, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai
| Details of the Talk are as follows: Title: 'Potential of Millets: From Farm to Plate' Speakers: Dr. Srijit Mishra, Professor and Dean Academic & Student Affairs, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai Abstract: The United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets. The millet crops, like all cereals, are from the grass family. Once touted as poor man's food, it is now considered as smart food, as millets are good for the planet (for its resilience to biotic and abiotic stress; on an average water requirement is 70% that of rice, the time requirement is 50% that of wheat, and energy for processing is 40% that of maize; carbon footprint of 3,218 kg ha-1 is 80% that of wheat and 95% that of rice), good for the consumer (for its nutritional properties that rise to eminence as we are moving out of a pandemic; high dietary fiber: 38% in little millet and 14% in Kodo millet, high protein: 12-16% in pearl millet/proso millet/Kodo millet, high lipid: 4-6% in pearl millet, high calcium: 300-350 mg/100g in finger millet, as also other macro- and micro-nutrients), and good for the producer (for its livelihood implications in the larger value chain with its forward and backward linkages). Unfortunately, with the ascendance of the green revolution that focused on rice and wheat, millets were relegated. Now, there has been a clarion call for their revival and a way forward would resonate with some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2 zero hunger, SDG 3 good health and well-being, SDG 12 sustainable consumption and production, and SDG 13 climate action). Keeping these in the background the talk will also draw from the Odisha Millets Mission's journey from farm to plate and also from elsewhere. It will focus on the philosophical moorings of such a public policy (the forging of space for orphaned crops, marginal lands, and vulnerable populations); the coming together of academia, government, and civil society for a pro-people action (along with the breaking down of silos within and between these domains); the aligning of top-down decision structures with bottom-up feedback loops; the concurrent focus on production, processing, marketing and consumption; the building of bridges to the usage of the knowledge that acknowledges the relevance of science and tradition; and knowledge flow from the local to the global and vice versa. Odisha Millets Mission started in 2017. The first-year outcome, compared to a baseline, led to a doubling of output per hectare (from 5.792 qtl ha-1 to 12.72 qtl ha-1) and trebling of additional value per household (from ₹3,957 to ₹12,486), paving the way for the program's expansion from 30 blocks (a block is a subdivision of a rural administrative district) across seven districts in year one (2017-18) to 84 blocks across 15 districts by year five (2021-22). The Programme expanded from 8,030 farmers cultivating millets in 3,399 hectares in year one to 1,18,561 farmers cultivating millets in 54,496 hectares in year five, and, in 2022-23, the planned expansion is 81,700 hectares in 142 blocks across 19 districts. About the Speaker: Srijit Mishra, Ph.D., is a Professor and Dean of Academic and Student Affairs, at Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, and was formerly Director, of Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies (NCDS), Bhubaneswar, an Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) institute. He researches and teaches on development-related issues that intertwine between social philosophy, analytical measurement, and applied development. At NCDs, he was instrumental in spearheading the Odisha Millets Mission that brought together the Government, civil society, and Academia for a pro-people action research initiative, which has important lessons leading to the International Year of Millets 2023. His work on cyclone Fani dealt with macroeconomic and human impact that has important methodological and policy implications. His work on farmers' suicides in Maharashtra led to the setting-up of the Vasantrao Naik Kshetkari Swabhilambhan Mission and other policy outcomes. Some of his publications are on agrarian issues, measurement of development indicators, and poverty among others. He has been a Guest Scholar at Meiji University, Japan; ICCR Chair Professor of Indian Studies at the National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan; and Subir Chowdhury Fellow on Quality and Economics, at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
| Click here to view the Report | Click here for photos of the talk Click here for video |
| 1 | 29 Sept. 2022 | 29 Sept.2022 | The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay organized an Institute talk as part of "International Year of Millets". The talk has been arranged in coordination with Shekru Foundation. Details of the first talk in the series are as follows: Title: Step into the world of Millets! Speakers: Ananth Krishna & Bibhishan Bagal | Details of the first talk follows: Title: Step into the world of Millets! Speakers: Ananth Krishna & Bibhishan Bagal Abstract: The Government of India along with the United Nations has declared 2022-23 as the International Year of Millets. Get an insight into the world of millets and how you can partake in it. Mr. Ananth Krishna and Mr. Bibhishan Bagal from Shekru Foundation will present important millets, both for farmers and consumers, for livelihood security and nutrition diversity in this era of Climate Change. Come join them! About Shekru Foundation: Shekru.Foundation was formed with a mission to better awareness and access to resources for farmers of Maharashtra and beyond. Towards this mission, online, under the label 'Shekru TV', Shekru foundation has completed nearly 700 sessions in vernacular media with various relevant stakeholders and all the recordings can be found on their social media channels. Offline, Shekru is working on a couple of focus areas. They are helping farmer entrepreneurs set up their own bio-input resource centre as an alternative to the agro-chemical retailer, so they can sell these natural, biological inputs to other farmers in their area and beyond, those practicing or incorporating organic and natural farming. They are also doing awareness festivals on millets for consumer awareness and for market linkages for farmers and entrepreneurs. About the speakers: Mr. Ananth Krishna - Passionate about technology, agriculture and healthcare, Mr. Ananth Krishna is an engineer by qualification. His formal work experience is in technology but global travels, backpacks, care-giving and a village immersion helps him celebrate simple life, basic food, and rural lands.
Mr. Bibhishan Bagal - A farmer's son, living on the farm at the moment, Mr. Bibhishan Bagal completed his formal education in agriculture and later got an opportunity to work in an Israeli Kibbutz for a year. He worked in the media for a while before joining the mission of making farmers aware. Bibhishan operates the shetkari shaala from Phaltan, Satara. | Click here to view the Report | Click her for photos of the talk |
