In news : UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets
- The resolution titled ‘International Year of Millets 2023‘ was initiated by India with Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Russia and Senegal and was co-sponsored by over 70 nations.
- The 193-member General Assembly unanimously adopted the resolution, declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
FAO nod to India’s ‘year of Millets – 2023 proposal
In 2018,‘International Year of Millets’ had been endorsed by the FAO Council for 2023
Declaring an International year by the United Nations
- The UN designates specific days, weeks, years and decades as occasions to mark particular events or topics in order to promote, through awareness and action, the objectives of the Organization.
- History: Guidelines for the proclamation of international years were adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1980 (decision 35/424) upon a proposal by the ECOSOC (resolution 1980/67 of 25 July 1980) and were subsequently reaffirmed through General Assembly resolution 53/199 of 15 December 1998.
- Usually, it is one or more Member States that propose these observances and the General Assembly establishes them with a resolution.
- On occasion, these celebrations are declared by the specialized agencies of the United Nations, such as UNESCO, UNICEF, FAO, etc., when they concern issues that fall within the scope of their competencies.
- Some of them may be later adopted by the General Assembly.
Millets are a group of highly variable small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food.
Millets consist of Jowar, Bajra, Ragi and minor millets together termed as nutri-cereals.
Millet production in India
In India, millets are cultivated in an area of 15.48 million hectare producing 17.2 million tonnes with a yield of 1111 kg/ha (Directorate of Economics and Statistics, 2015). Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka are the top most states of millets cultivation in India.