During the opening ceremony of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s International Year of Millets 2023 event hosted at Rome, Italy on December 07, 2022(Tuesday) India’s Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje represented India as the Prime Minister’s proxy, reading out the PM’s thoughts and addressal at the world stage.

The message read, “Climate change can also impact food availability. At such a time, a global movement related to millets is an important step, since they are easy to grow, climate resilient and drought resistant”. Furthermore, the Prime Minister’s message heavily emphasized the importance and benefits of millets. He laid importance that alongside the institutional establishments and industrial houses’ increased millet production, the world populous also must actively seek to make health-conscious and planet-friendly choices by making millets a part of their everyday diet. 

He closed in by sharing his thought, “There is a need for diversity on the land and on our tables. If agriculture becomes monoculture, it impacts our health and the health of our lands. Millets are a good way to increase agricultural and dietary diversity.” Ultimately ending his speech by congratulating the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s efforts in marketing for  millets and millets production globally for sustained food production, assuring support for the motive alongside other partner nations.

The present period is an era of instability, taking in account the chaos caused in Europe by the Ukraine-Russia War, annulment of trade between countries as an after effect, oil and gas prices hike and scarcity, and the absence of food grains supply to the necessary demand in the Western and European market that has lead to a global food resources scarcity in multiple countries and pushed many countries unable to meet the demands of its citizens. As such, the Prime Minister’s vision could very well be a necessary and viable goal to pursue globally.