The United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session in March 2021 declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023). FAO is the lead agency for celebrating the Year in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders (https://www.fao.org/millets-2023/en). Millets can grow on arid lands with minimal inputs and are resilient to changes in climate. They are therefore an ideal solution for countries to increase self-sufficiency and reduce reliance on imported cereal grains.
#IYM2023 will be an opportunity to raise awareness of, and direct policy attention to the nutritional and health benefits of millets and their suitability for cultivation under adverse and changing climatic conditions. The Year will also promote the sustainable production of millets, while highlighting their potential to provide new sustainable market opportunities for producers and consumers.
Nepal Government is also celebrating IYM2023 with many different programs and actions. NARC and related Centers, Programs and Stations are also focusing due attention to millets research on this occasion of IYM2023. NARC request all to make this year very special to promote the use and conservation of millets. Some information of millets in Nepal based on Nepal Genebank, are given below. Nepal Genebank has published some documents related to millet species, their diversity.
Background
Millets are group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world for their grains, and straw for fodder and human food. They are grown from 60 to 3650 m altitude in all 77 districts of Nepal. Millets are produced organically without pesticides, with zero or low inputs in marginalized lands. They are for food, feed, nutrition, health, business and environment. Millets are there when others are not and provide foods when other harvest fail. Millets are ancient crops and therefore have broad genetic base and zero environmental shock. Due to high genetic diversity created in-situ, they are resilient to climate changes, stresses and other factors. It is lectin and gluten free, and considered as climate smart crop, super food, nutrition dense (nutri-cereals), health benefited crops (with high health index), hardy crop (with buffering capacity), C4 plants, low glycemic index, emergency crops, etc. They are very easy to grow with low care and seeds storability period is also very high. Because of these multiple benefits, these crops though globally neglected, need to focus by all relevant stakeholders.
National (Nepal) Genebank works for ensuring the availability of genetic diversity of all agricultural genetic resources including millets. Due attention has been given to native and endangered crops and landraces. Millets in Nepal are neglected and underutilized. This 2023 year is declared as an International Year of Millets (IYM) by UN. Therefore, National Genebank has many planned actions dedicated to millets for conservation and sustainable utilization.
Millets statistics in Nepal
| 1. Number of millet species | 12 |
| 2. Number of wild relative species of millets | 9 |
| 3. Number of millets landraces | 1100 |
| 4. Total cultivated area, ha (2022) | 265401 ha |
| 5. Total production and productivity, t, t/ha (2022) | 326443 and 1.23 t/ha |
| 6. Total import kg (2022), (1.18% of total cereal import) | 2,02,99,438 kg (NPR 70,59,66,300) |
| 7. Release and registered verities, n | 8 (Finger: 6, Foxtail: 1, Proso: 1) |
| 8. Millets growing districts, n | 77 (all districts) |
| 9. Millets cultivation altitude masl | 60-3700 masl |
| 10. Millets accessions in Nepal Genebank, n | 1280 |
| 11. Nepalese millets accessions in foreign genebanks, n | 1107 |
| 12. Common millets | Finger, Foxtail, Proso, Sorghum |
Diversity
Diversity exits at species, landrace, genotype and allele levels in Nepal. 12 domesticated millet species have been reported from Nepal. They are Bristly foxtail millet, Browntop millet, Finger millet, Foxtail millet, Japanese barnyard millet, Job’s tear millet, Kodo millet, Little millet, Nepalese barnyard millet, Pearl millet, Proso millet and Sorghum. Wild relatives of these species are Awnless barnyard grass, Barnyard grass, Crowfoot grass, Goose grass (wild finger millet), Johnson grass, Wild pearl millet, oriental fountain grass, Wild foxtail millet, Garden bristle-grass, Wild proso millet, Blue panic grass and Wild sorghum. About 1100 landraces of millets are estimated in the country. Diversity of millets is higher in high hill particularly in Karnali province, however. 50% of millets diversity have been lost. Nepalese millets are conserved at National and International Genebanks
Major issues
Millet crops have been neglected, leading to a loss of genetic diversity as they are replaced by more dominant crops like rice, maize, and wheat. Despite being touted as the future smart crop, millets are already a smart choice in the present and will continue to be in the future. Unfortunately, only a few millet species are widely utilized, and some organizations promote non-evolutionary genotypes alongside chemical inputs, increasing farmer dependency on external providers and replacing well-adapted landraces. The health, livestock, and environmental benefits of millets are often overlooked, and it is important to estimate their impact on health. However, millet cultivation requires labor-intensive activities like transplanting, weeding, harvesting, and threshing. Traditional millet recipes are not appealing to children and young people, but efforts should be made to develop new recipes. Millet-based beverages, while popular, still face hurdles in terms of legalization for branding and marketing purposes.
Actions
Minor cereal crops (MCC) committee formed in the leadership of National Genebank has worked on short term and long-term R&D on minor cereals. This committee has also worked on action plans to promote and conserve millet species on the occasion of IYM-2023. Some action plans are:
- We launched a program of IYM in January with showcasing different millets related products, seeds and publications. Key remarks and highlights were presented.
- Different meetings, writeshops and workshops were organized and will continue these activities.
- Stall of seeds and publications related to millets are established in Nepal Genebank. This will be available up to the end of 2023
- List of publications related to millets is compiled and available from this link, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371012844_List_of_publications_related_to_millets_from_Nepal_Genebank_Kathmandu
- All 21 species will be explored and collected for conservation, characterization and distribution. These diversities will be conserved through seed bank, agro gene sanctuary, field genebank, community seed bank, community genebank, school field genebank, etc.
- We have planned to publish poster; pictorial dictionary; catalog of elite lines/ landraces; millets traditions, science and technology; database; policy brief, articles, leaflet, etc
- Evolutionary population of finger millet and diversity blocks of all species and some unique landraces will be established.
- Breeding will focus on developing site specific with polymorphic varieties. Different types of varieties for a particular use value will be developed (eg white seeded varieties for roti and dindoo; varieties for raksi, tongbaa, etc.
- Some landraces will be registered. Promotional activities will be carried out for market assurance of each product, rather than registration of varieties.
- Seeds of conserved millets will be distributed to farmers, researchers and students free of cost.
- Knowledge products and information about millets will be disseminated through social media (facebook, tiktok, twitter, youtube), TV, Radio, etc.
- Promotional activities will be carried out for traditional food recipe including beverages (like raksi, chyang, tongbaa)
- Millet based food system will be promoted, eg Kaguno khir, Khole, etc
Diversity in foxtail millet
For further detail
Dr Bal Krishna Joshi
National Genebank, Khumaltar
Email: joshibalak@yahoo.com