A series of pre-launch events and initiatives have been organised by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on the MyGov platform in the run-up to the International Year of Millets 2023 to create awareness and a sense of participation in the country  around the ancient and forgotten golden grains.

The MyGov platform has become a very important and successful medium for raising awareness through organisations of various competitions. The engagement on MyGov will play an important role in helping to make it a people’s movement. A host of competitions have already been launched, some are ongoing and many more in the future will be launched on the MyGoV platform, to capture the imagination and creative spirit of the country. Details about the contests are available on My Gov website: https://www.mygov.in/

A contest for designing a comic story, with the theme ‘India's Wealth, Millets for Health’, was launched on September 5, and is intended to showcase the health benefits of millets to raise awareness among the masses. The contest closes on November 5, and has recieved an encouraging response so far.

The Millet Startup Innovation Challenge was launched on September 10. This initiative encourages young minds to offer technological/ business solutions to the existing problems in the millets ecosystem. This Innovation Challenge will remain open till January 31, 2023.

The Mighty Millets Quiz was recently launched with questions based on millets and its benefits and which solicited a huge response. The contest closes on October 20, and has received 57,779 page views and 10,824 entries during August 20–30.

A competition for an audio song and documentary film on the importance of millets is also to be launched shortly.

The logo and slogan contest for the International Year of Millets 2023 has already been held and the winners will be announced shortly. The Government of India will soon release the logo and slogan to mark the momentous occasion of the International Year of Millets 2023.

Background

The United Nations General Assembly has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets. This was adopted by a United Nations Resolution for which India took the lead and was supported by over 70 nations. This will help create awareness throughout the world of the importance of millets, its role in sustainable agriculture, and its benefits as a smart and super food.  India is poised to become the global hub for millets with a production of more than 170 lakh tonnes and producing more than 80 % of the millets produced in Asia. The earliest evidence for these grains has been found in Indus civilization, showing these were one of the first plants domesticated for food. It is grown in about 131 countries and is the traditional food for around 60 crore people in Asia and Africa.