I couldn’t help comparing it with tobacco and FMCG giant ITC, because on the day the movie released (25 January), the company unveiled “Mission Millet”—a campaign to mainstream the grain in India and centered around food and nutritional security. (View Highlight)
First, with wider reach, more millets will get consumed. This is what India desperately wants given that 65% of net cropped area in the country is rain-fed—farmers growing this short-duration crop will reduce their farming risk. (View Highlight)
Aashirvaad and Sunfeast are ITC’s biggest brands even today. They accounted for Rs 6,000 crore (US830million)andRs4,000crore(US550 million), respectively, in consumer spend for the year ended March 2020 , according to the company’s annual report. ITC hasn’t released any more recent break-ups, but for the year ended March 2022, total consumer spending across its brands stood at Rs 24,000 crore (~US$2.9 billion). (View Highlight)
Before India front-and-centred millet as a nutri-cereal, a major thrust area in its 2022 Union Budget , it got a bunch of large private companies and agriculture institutions to prepare a white paper on the scope and opportunities for popularising this “super food”. India, which is the largest producer and consumer of millets in the world, was also behind the FAO’s decision to declare 2023 as the year of millets. (View Highlight)
I think it (millets) can certainly play a significant role in addressing this issue because millet is nutritious, planet-friendly and resilient. Millet uses 70 per cent less water than rice. It has 40 per cent less use of energy as compared to wheat in processing. It grows in half the time as wheat grows. (View Highlight)
From the nutrition point of view, says Raj Seelam, the bulk of our calories today come from wheat and rice, even though millets have higher proteins, fibre, minerals, and beneficial phytochemicals. “Most [varieties] of millets have lower glycaemic index. One millet meal a day is great for dietary diversification and reducing incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.” (View Highlight)
(View Highlight)