Time to make millets a diet choice: PM on food security

NEW DELHI: Pitching for millet cultivation as a tool for ensuring global food security, PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday said a once-in-a-century pandemic followed by a conflict situation (Ukraine-Russia war) has shown that food security is still a concern for the planet and this is the need of the hour to make millets the food choice for the future.
“Climate change can also impact food availability. At such a time, a global movement related to millets is an important step, since they are easy to grow, climate resilient and drought resistant,” said Modi in his message, delivered at the opening ceremony of the International Year of Millets 2023, hosted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome. His message was read out by junior agriculture minister Shobha Karandlaje who is representing India at the ceremony.
PM Modi said, “While institutional mechanisms can encourage production of millets and make it profitable, individuals can make health-conscious and planet-friendly choices by making millets a part of their diet. There is a need for diversity on the land and on our tables. If agriculture becomes monoculture, it impacts our health and the health of our lands. Millets are a good way to increase agricultural and dietary diversity.”