{"id":33785,"date":"2022-12-06T10:59:27","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T05:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=33785"},"modified":"2025-04-20T01:36:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T20:06:15","slug":"millets-is-the-food-choice-for-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/millets-is-the-food-choice-for-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Millets is the food choice for the future"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Recently, the opening ceremony of the \u2018International Year of Millets 2023\u2019 was organized at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy.<\/li>\n<li>In his message to the opening ceremony, PM Modi emphasized for making millets a food choice for the future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>FAO is a <u>specialized agency<\/u> of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security.<\/li>\n<li>Its goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.<\/li>\n<li>It is based in <strong>Rome (Italy<\/strong>). With 195 members &#8211; 194 countries and the European Union, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.<\/li>\n<li>Its sister bodies are the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>India\u2019s Association with FAO<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>India has had a historic association with FAO.<\/li>\n<li>Indian Civil Service Officer Dr Binay Ranjan Sen was the Director General of FAO during 1956-1967.<\/li>\n<li>India&#8217;s proposals for the International Year of Pulses in 2016 and the International Year of Millets 2023 have also been endorsed by FAO.<\/li>\n<li>In October 2020, India released a commemorative coin of Rs 75 denomination to mark the 75th anniversary of the FAO.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is World Food Programme (WFP)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations. It is the world\u2019s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.<\/li>\n<li>Its efforts focus on emergency assistance, relief and rehabilitation, development aid and special operations.<\/li>\n<li>It won the Nobel Peace Prize 2020.<\/li>\n<li>Founded in 1961, it is headquartered in Rome.<\/li>\n<li>It works closely with its two Rome-based sister organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Background:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>In March, 2021, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets.<\/li>\n<li>The proposal was moved by India, and was supported by 72 countries.<\/li>\n<li>The International Year of Millets will raise awareness about the importance of millets in food security and nutrition.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Key highlights of the speech<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Food security is still a concern<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Once-in-a-century pandemic followed by a conflict situation has shown that food security is still a concern for the planet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Millets \u2013 food choice of future<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Millets have a glorious history of being among the earliest crops grown by humans.<\/li>\n<li>They have been an important food source in the past. But the need of the hour is to make them a food choice for the future.<\/li>\n<li>A global movement related to millets is an important step, since they are easy to grow, climate resilient and drought resistant.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Importance of Millets was highlighted<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Millets are good for consumers, cultivators and the climate.<\/li>\n<li>They are a rich source of balanced nutrition; they benefit the cultivators and the environment since they need lesser water and are compatible with natural ways of farming.<\/li>\n<li>Millets are a good way to increase agricultural and dietary diversity.\n<ul>\n<li>There is a need for diversity on the land and on our tables. If agriculture becomes monoculture, it impacts our health and the health of our lands.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Increase awareness<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Raising awareness to create \u201cMillet Mindfulness\u201d is an important part of this movement.<\/li>\n<li>Both institutions and individuals can make a tremendous impact in this regard.\n<ul>\n<li>Institutional mechanisms can encourage production of millets and make it profitable via policy initiatives.<\/li>\n<li>Individuals can make health-conscious and planet-friendly choices by making it a part of their diet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) Who is the millet Man of India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Dr Khadar Vali is popularly known as the &#8216;Millet Man of India&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) What are different types of millets?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>There are ten types of millets available in the market, including Sorghum, Finger Millet, Pearl Millet, Foxtail millet, Proso\/Broomcorn millet, and Buckwheat.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Millets are a rich source of balanced nutrition that can fight malnutrition and ensure food security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":33786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33785","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}