MILLET INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVE FOR RESEARCH AND AWARENESS

1. Context 

2. About MIIRA

• The acronym MIIRA stands for "Millet International Initiative for Research and Awareness".
• The MIIRA will be aimed at coordinating millet research programmes at the international level.
• It is in line with the UN declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets, the proposal for which was moved by India and supported by 72 countries.
• The International Year will see several events and activities such as conferences, issuing of stamps and coins etc. to raise awareness about millets, improve their production and quality and attract investments.
• The Centre also plans to make India a global hub for millet.

3. Aim of MIIRA

• MIIRA will aim to connect millet research organisations across the world while also supporting research on these crops.
• This is significant as issues like food security and nutrition are among the key priority areas in the agriculture sector during India's G20 Presidency.
• India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1 2022.
• Besides setting up a web platform to connect researchers and holding international research conferences, the plan is also to raise awareness for promoting the consumption of millet.

4. Funding for the MIIRA initiative

• For MIIRA to take off, India will contribute the "Send Money", while each G20 member will later have to contribute to its budget in the form of a membership fee.
• The MIIRA secretariat will be in Delhi with a major producer of millets, this will ensure a flow of investment from the country's industry and research bodies.

5. Millets

• These crops require much less water than rice and wheat and are mainly grown in rainfed areas.
• Now grown in more than 130 countries, millets are the traditional food for more than half a billion people in Asia and Africa.
• Globally, jowar is the most widely grown millet crop; its major producers are the US, China, Australia, India, Argentina, Nigeria and Sudan.
• Bajra, another major millet crop, is mainly grown in some African countries and India, where millets are mainly a Kharif crop.
• During 2018-19, Agriculture Ministry data show, bajra (3.67 per cent), jowar (2.13 per cent) and ragi (0.48 per cent) accounted for about seven per cent of the gross cropped area in the country.

6. Reasons for millets termed "Nutri Cereals"

• On April 10, 2018, the Agriculture Ministry declared millets such as Jowar, bajra, ragi/mandua, some minor millets such as Kangani/kukun, cheena etc and the two pseudo millets buckwheat (kuttu) and amaranth (chaulai) as Nutri Cereals for their "High nutritive value".
• While describing various types of millets as "Shree Anna" Finance Minister said, Now India is a global hub for Shree Anna, the Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad will be supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing the best practices, research and technologies at the International level.