Nepal ready to collaborate with India to promote millet cultivation and consumption

Kathmandu: Nepal’s Food, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Beduram Bhushal has said that the Himalayan country is ready to cooperate with India to promote the cultivation and consumption of millets with high nutritional value. At an event in Kathmandu on Tuesday, Bhushal congratulated India for taking the lead in the millet campaign and renaming the grain “Shri Anna” or auspicious grain. Bhushal emphasized on the potential health benefits behind promoting millet as a staple food and highlighted its high nutritional value.

Noting that the United Nations has launched a campaign to promote millet consumption at India’s initiative, Bhushal said Nepal is ready to join hands with New Delhi in this campaign. In the year 2021, India proposed to declare 2023 as the International Millet Year in the United Nations. The proposal was supported by 72 countries and the United Nations General Assembly declared 2023 as the International Millet Year. The Embassy of India in Kathmandu organized an event to mark the International Year of Millet 2023 in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Nepal.

During the event, India’s Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava emphasized the importance of cooperation between India and Nepal in the agriculture sector to explore millet production and its commercial potential. He said that millets can provide a solution to the challenges of climate change and global food security. The food experts who addressed the program highlighted the nutritional value of millet and stressed on the need to promote its production on a large scale recognizing its immense potential in the export market.