Piyush Goyal to be the chief guest at the Millets-Smart Nutritive Food conclave tomorrow
The first of its kind Conclave to
be the pre-launch event of International Year of Millet – 2023
Millet Conclave to help boost exports of nutri-cereals
Union Minister
for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal will be the Chief Guest at the
‘Millets-Smart Nutritive Food’ Conclave to be held in New Delhi tomorrow (05
December 2022, Monday). The Conclave is being organized by the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry through its apex agricultural export promotion body,
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)
with the objective of promoting the export of millets. The Conclave is to be a
pre-launch event of the ‘International Year of Millets – 2023’ (IYoM-2023).
At the
Millets Smart Nutritive Conclave, stakeholders of the supply chain such as
Farmer Producer Organisations, Start-ups, exporters, producers of millet-based
value-added products are key participants. At the Conclave, exhibition and B2B
meeting will also be organized to showcase Indian millets and millet-based
products.
Minister of
State for Commerce & Industry Anupriya Patel will be the Guest of Honour at
the Millets Conclave. Senior government officials who will be present on
the occasion include Union Commerce Secretary, Sunil Barthwal, Agriculture
Secretary, Manoj Ahuja, APEDA Chairman Dr M Angamuthu and Joint Secretary,
Department of Commerce, Dr M Balaji.
The millets
export promotion programme also comes at the backdrop of the proposal of India
that was supported by 72 countries which lead to the United Nations’ General
Assembly (UNGA) declaring 2023 as International Year of Millets (IYoM) on March
5, 2021.The government is currently organising IYoM-2023 at domestic and
international level to popularize Indian millets as well as its value-added
products across the world and make it a peoples’ movement.
At the
first-of-its-kind Millets Conclave, the government will release
e-catalogue on 30 potential importing countries and 21 millet producing states
of India. Also, a knowledge book on Millets prepared in association with
Knowledge partner ‘Yes Bank’ will be released on the occasion.For exports of
Indian millets’ promotion, the government has planned to facilitate
participation of exporters, farmers and traders in 16 international trade expos
and Buyer Seller Meets (BSMs).
As per the
government’s robust strategy to promote millets, Indian missions abroad would
be roped in branding and publicity of Indian millets, identification of
international chefs as well as potential buyers such as departmental stores,
supermarkets and hypermarkets for organizing B2B meetings and direct tie-ups.
In
addition, Ambassadors of Foreign missions in India of the targeted countries
and potential importers have been invited to showcase various millet-based
products, including Ready to Eat millet products and facilitate B2B meetings.
Centre has
also planned to organize millet promotional activities in South Africa, Dubai,
Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Sydney, Belgium, Germany, United
Kingdom and United States of America by facilitating participation of different
stakeholders from India in some of the significant food shows, Buyer Seller
Meets and Road Shows.
As part of
the promotion of Indian millets, APEDA has planned to showcase millets and its
value-added product at various global platforms such as Gulfood 2023, Foodex,
Seoul Food & Hotel Show, Saudi Agro Food, Fine Food Show in Sydney
(Australia), Belgium’s Food & Beverages Show, Germany’s BioFach and Anuga
Food Fair, San Francisco’s Winter Fancy Food Show, etc.
India is
one of the leading producers of millets in the world with an estimated share of
around 41 percent in the global production. As per FAO, world production of
millets in the year 2020 was 30.464 million metric tonnes (MMT) and India’s
share was 12.49 MMT, which accounts to 41 percent of the total millet
production. India recorded 27 percent growth in millet production in 2021-22 as
compared to millet production in the previous year was 15.92 MMT.
India’s top
five millet producing states are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and
Madhya Pradesh. Share of export of millets is nearly 1% of the total millet
production. Exports of millets from India include mainly whole grain and the
export of value-added products of millets from India is negligible.
However, it
is estimated that the millets market is set to grow from its current market
value of more than USD 9 billion to over USD 12 billion by 2025. APEDA
would also organise food sampling and tasting at the retail level and in key
local bazaars of targeted countries where individual, household consumers can
gain familiarity with millet products.
Centre has
created the Nutri Cereals Export Promotion Forum to give impetus to the export
of potential products, including millets, and to remove the bottlenecks in the
supply chain of Nutri cereals.
Millets
have superior nutritional values in comparison to highly consumed cereals such
as rice and wheat. Millets are rich in calcium, iron, and fibers that help in
fortifying essential nutrients for the healthy growth in children. Also, the
usage of millets in infant food and nutrition products is increasing.
As per the
DGCIS data, India registered a growth of 8.02% in the export of millets in the
financial year 2021-22 as the export of millets was 159,332.16 metric tonne
against 147,501.08 metric tonne during the same period last year.India’s major
millet exporting countries are U.A.E, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Oman, Egypt,
Tunisia, Yemen, U.K and U.S.A. The varieties of millets exported by India
include Bajra, Ragi, Canary, Jawar, and Buckwheat.The major millet importing
countries in the world are Indonesia, Belgium, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Italy,
the U.S.A, United Kingdom, Brazil and Netherlands.
There are
16 major varieties of millet, which are produced and exported, including
Sorghum (Jowar), Pearl Millet (Bajra), Finger Millet (Ragi) Minor Millets
(Kangani), Proso Millet (Cheena), Kodo Millet (Kodo), Barnyard Millet
(Sawa/Sanwa/Jhangora), Little Millet (Kutki), Two Pseudo Millets
(BuckWheat/Kuttu), Ameranthus (Chaulai) and Brown Top Millet.