The Indian government is making a significant effort to raise the profile of millet, an under-consumed, climate-resilient crop, both at home and via Indian embassies across the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That effort is being recognised globally: in January, after a proposal from India, the United Nations General Assembly declared<\/a> 2023 as the International Year of Millets. In June, a marinated millet salad made it onto the menu<\/a> of the\u00a0White House state dinner for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, while millets were served at every\u00a0G20 meeting<\/a> held in India this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Millet is a small grain grown mostly in Asia and Africa for cattle fodder and human consumption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It has been eaten by humans for thousands of years. The most commonly cultivated type is pearl millet, followed by finger millet, proso millet, foxtail millet and barnyard millet.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n The push to promote millet began in 2018, which India declared<\/a> a National Year of Millets. That year, the country rebranded the grain as a \u2018nutri-cereal\u2019 for its higher nutrient content relative to wheat and rice, two popular national \u2013\u00a0and global \u2013 staples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n