Shree Anna is the need of the day – Union Agriculture Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar
The more the use of millet increases, the more the small farmers will benefit
Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar have said that Shree Anna (Millets) is the need of the day, as it is rich in nutrients. In the present environment, whether at home or outside, food is available to us, but it lacks nutrients as per requirement. Nutrients should be in sufficient quantity in the food, for this it is necessary to have Shree Anna on our food plate. Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said this as the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony of the two-day National Millets Conference organized by Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University, Jabalpur as part of the International Year of Millets.
Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said that we know that millet is being produced as a special product in the world. With the passage of time, the share of millets in the food plate decreased and millets lost their competitive edge. Efforts are being made to promote millet again and increase its use. Under the leadership of India, the whole world is celebrating the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets. It will be formally launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at an International Conference in New Delhi on 18th March.
Apart from this, G-20 meetings are due to be held in about 50 cities across the country this year, in which about two lakh people from abroad will visit India. Under the directions of the Prime Minister, a plan has been prepared for the promotion of millet through G-20 meetings. In all the programs of G-20, priority is being given to millets in food, so that when these people return to their country, they take a good taste of food from here and India’s Shree Anna gets new recognition in the world. Our farmers and the country will get benefit from this.
Shri Tomar said that the millets crop is rain-fed, which can be grown with less expenditure and consumes less water. Poor farmers can produce it on barren land. The more the use of millet increases, the more nutrients will be available in the food, which will benefit people. If the use of millets increases in the world, processing will increase, and exports will increase, which will benefit small farmers and it will eventually help improve their financial condition. This International Year of Millets is very important from this point of view. To increase research on this in the country, three National Centers of Excellence have been set up in Haryana, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, through which a lot of work is being done.
There are about 2000 Startups working in the Agriculture sector, most of which are related to millet. Agricultural products worth more than Rs 4 lakh crore were exported from our country, most of which are organic and millet. Lauding the contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University in promoting agriculture in Madhya Pradesh and making it emerge as a soya-growing state, said the University is also working on millets crops that are vanishing, an area which needs to be doubled up. In the program, Member of Parliament, Shri V.D. Sharma, State Agriculture Minister Shri Kamal Patel and Vice Chancellor Prof. Pramod Kumar Mishra were among the dignitaries present.
Disclaimer: This is an official press release by PIB.
