Why is it in the news?

• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organized the closing ceremony of the International Year of Millets (IYM), emphasizing the significance of millets in achieving sustainable development goals and recognizing their emergence as a ‘Global Superfood.’

 More about the news

• Millets, also known as “coarse cereals” or “cereals of the poor,” are a group of nutritiously rich, drought-tolerant grains primarily grown in the arid and semi-arid regions of India.
• India is the largest producer of millets, followed by Niger and China.
• Millets are highly adaptive to a wide range of ecological conditions and have a low Glycemic Index (GI), making them beneficial in the prevention of diabetes.
• They are rich sources of minerals like iron, zinc, and calcium and are gluten-free.

India has initiated various measures to promote millets:

• Implementation of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry for Millet-based products (PLISMBP) by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) from 2022-23 to 2026-27.
• Millets are also included under the Poshan Abhiyan of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• An Export Promotion Forum dedicated to promoting millets in the international market has been established.