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10,000 years ago Asia began to cultivate millet. Over the centuries, this cereal has been eclipsed by wheat, rice and corn. Today, climate change, droughts and floods, and the war in Ukraine have brought millet back into the spotlight. So much so that the UN declared 2023 as the “year of millet”, good news for India, the world’s leading producer with 15 million tons per year. Report from our correspondents Alban Alvarez and Sadia Rao.
India now sees millet as a product that it can export and share with the world, not least because the war in Ukraine has completely disrupted the transportation of wheat to many countries.
Millet is considered a cereal that has as many, or more, benefits than rice or wheat for health, but also generates important value in agriculture.
In addition, millet is more resistant to heat waves, requires two and a half times less water to grow, and grows faster. For the Indian government, millet is also synonymous with food security for its inhabitants: heat waves and floods in 2021 and 2022 have reduced the production of wheat and rice, staples in the Indian diet. So the authorities are trying to encourage farmers to relaunch the millet industry as an alternative.
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