Dr Nishant A.Irudayadason

(Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, Jnana-DeepaVidyapeeth, Pune)

As global agri-food systems struggle to feed an ever-growing world population, resilient cereals like millet are an affordable and nutritious solution. It is therefore important to redouble our efforts to promote culture. This was the message addressed at the opening ceremony of the International Year of Millet-2023 at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Millet seed looks like wheat semolina. It is grown in Africa and Asia. India remains the world’s largest producer of millet, it has been used as a staple food for humans or animal fodder for thousands of years. Millet has gained popularity in developed countries because it is gluten-free and can be consumed by the most fragile stomachs. Millet belongs to the cereal family. Like rice it is a starchy that is rich in carbohydrates. Millet is rich in phosphorus and magnesium. It also contains calcium which makes it the most concentrated seed of all cereals. It is also a good source of protein for athletes. Millet is a great alternative to any food that contains wheat, barley or rye because it is gluten-free. Celiac disease is a chronic bowel disease after ingesting gluten. It is difficult for people with this condition to vary the sources of carbohydrates. Millet, quinoa, rice bring variety in the diet of gluten intolerant.

A study from Cornell University has shown that it is an excellent source of antioxidants comparable to those found in vegetables and fruits. Millet is rich in polyphenols and catechins. Millet is rich in magnesium, a mineral involved in insulin secretion. When we eat carbohydrates, our blood sugar levels rise. Our body needs to release insulin to restore our blood sugar. Millet contains lignans that belong to the phytoestrogen family. They would serve to protect the plant from various attacks. These lignans are fermented in our intestine and lead to the production of a substance that would help prevent heart disease, but also hormone-dependent cancers like breast cancer and prostate cancer. Millet is also a good source of fibre.

The nutrients in millet provide wonderful benefits for our body. Nevertheless, it contains phytic acid, an acid often referred to as an anti-nutrient. It has the ability to limit the absorption of certain nutrients like calcium, iron, zinc and magnesium. As part of a balanced diet, there is no risk of deficiencies. Millet has been consumed for thousands of years as a staple food. It could have side effects only in extreme consumption. Millet is also a goitrogenic food, because it promotes the loss of iodine ingested by our body. Cauliflower, broccoli, and kale are also part of this family of foods that have negative effects on the thyroid gland. Insufficiency of iodine leads to abnormal growth of the gland and the appearance of goitre in the throat.

In Asian and African countries, and particularly their poorest regions, millet and its larger cousin, sorghum, are a subsistence food for millions of people. Easy to grow, undemanding, drought resistant (millet is the most resistant of all cereals), bio diversified and, therefore, adapted to the many ecological niches that characterize these regions of the world.

But in the state of Andra Pradesh, an international development program threatens these traditional crops. It is proposed to replace them with export crops (cotton, soybeans and rice), which require much more water and chemical fertilizers and pesticides and are likely to pose significant pollution problems, while eroding the genetic biodiversity of local varieties of millet and sorghum. The programme also provides for the displacement of 20 million peasants for whom no alternative employment and income have been provided. For all these reasons, nearly 140 groups from all over the state have formed the Andra Pradesh Diversity Coalition to defend their desire to preserve traditional crops that adequately feed the population without depleting the soil, rather than moving entirely towards polluting export crops which are a source of foreign exchange for only a privileged few and deprive a large part of the population of work, income and food.