Current Affairs 18th August 2018

Current Affairs 18th August 2018 - Important Points

• Ministry of Agriculture Proposal to UNFAO to declare 2019 as ‘International Year of Millets’ on - 16th August 2018

 Current Affairs 18th August 2018 - Details

Ministry of Agriculture Proposal to UNFAO to declare 2019 as ‘International Year of Millets’ on - 16th August 2018

The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Radha Mohan Singh on 16th August, 2018 wrote to Jose Graziano da Silva, the Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation to declare the upcoming year as the ‘International Year of Millets’.

Mr. Rahda Mohan Singh also stressed on the need to draw wider action and global attention to promote cultivation of millets.

Important Highlights

• This cereal is highly nutritious and useful in various lifestyle diseases, enhancing resilience and risk management in face of climate change especially for small and marginal farmers.
• It is an important staple cereal crop for millions of dryland farmers across Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. It offers nutrition, income and livelihood to farmers even in difficult times.
• They can be used in multiple forms such as food, feed, fodder, biofuels and brewing.
• They are nutritionally superior to wheat and rice as they have higher levels of protein with more balanced amino acid profile, crude fiber & minerals such as Zinc, Iron, and Phosphorous.
• They can offer nutritional security and act as a shield against nutritional deficiency among children and women especially.
• Some major deficiencies such as anaemia (iron deficiency), B-complex vitamin deficiency, pellagra (niacin deficiency) can be dealt easily with these nutritionally rich millets.
• Millets can also help tackling health challenges such as diabetes, obesity, and lifestyle problems as they are gluten free and have a low glycemic index and are also high in dietary fibre and antioxidants.
• Moreover, during climate change, it is the last crop standing and will be a good risk management strategy for resource-poor marginal farmers.

Did you know?
Millet is a common term that categorises small-seeded grasses also termed as 'Nutri-Cereals' or 'Dryland-Cereals'.