Current Status and Promotional Strategies of Millets: A Review

Abstract

Millets or nutri-cereals are high-energy foods, its domestication and cultivation date back at least 10,000 years. Millets are typically grown on degraded, marginal terrain that receives little rainfall and has low soil nitrogen concentration. Finger millet, Pearl millet, Foxtail millet, Barnyard millet, Proso millet, Kodo millet, and Tiny millet are the seven major millets grown around the world. In the case of India, millet output peaked in the 1980s and then steadily fell as a result of a substantial fall in the area that was being grown. The abundance of dietary fibres, antioxidants, minerals, phytochemicals, polyphenols, and proteins in millets makes them special in the fight against diseases. Millet is currently addressing an essential field of research for food scientists because to their considerable engagement in nutritional security and potential growing health consequences. Millets' nutritional value can be further enhanced by using appropriate and efficient processing techniques. Given the numerous health advantages and environmental benefits of millets, it is urgently necessary to create millet-based government policies that acknowledge their contributions to achieving nutritional security and bring them back into agricultural production in order to create cropping systems that are climate resilient.