As mono-culture farming focused on crops like wheat and rice, a rich diverse food grain suffered. Rich in fibre, millets are almost wiped out of our diets.
As mono-culture farming focused on crops like wheat and rice, a rich diverse food grain suffered. Rich in fibre, millets are almost wiped out of our diets. The two-day Millet Mela that kick-started on Saturday hopes to create awareness of this wonder grain.
“I want one more roti,” said 10-year-old Kusum, accompanying her grandparents to the mela at Gandhi Bhavan near Shivananda Circle. The girl enjoyed snacking on a crisp sajje roti (made of jowar and sesame seeds) and a tangy chutney powder with a dash of curd. “It is any day better than chips and wafers,” said her grandmother Geetanjali Sastry.
A steady stream of curious crowd kept dropping into the Bhavan premises. Stalls displayed several varieties of millets: Foxtrail millet (navana), pearl millet (sajje), finger millet (ragi), little millet (saave), proso (baragu), rajgeera (grain amranthus), barnyard millet (oodulu), and orghum (jowar).
If you thought what one could make of millets, the answer is everything— popcorns, chaklis, biscuits, and ready-to-fry paapads.
Until the 1960s, millets were an integral part of the Indian staple diet. Unfortunately today, it’s completely wiped out of our food system.
Wonder how policies change what’s on your plate! Experts point out that policies encouraged mono-culture farming and enabled wheat and rice as lucrative farming options, leaving out millets, oil seeds, and pulses.
“Millets not only ensure food security but also nutrition security,” said KC Raghu, food technologist, dietician and founder, Pristine Organics.
“The benefits of these grains are multi-fold. These crops fix more carbon and consume less water,” he said.
He also pointed out that the crops are well suited for the country, as 60 per cent of India is made up of dry land. Hence, farming these crops makes ecological sense. They use less water and are drought-resistant.
Health benefits of millets
“The millets don’t flood your body with high glucose,” said Raghu.
Today chronic diseases like diabetes are plaguing the society. People need to re-look and shift their focus on changing their dietary plan.
“Millets contain about 12 per cent to 18 per cent fibre,” said Rama Naik, dean, Rural Home Science College, University of Agricultural Science, Dharward.
“Millets are needed in our diets to help manage chronic diseases like diabetes,” she said.
In fact, her department had conducted over two decades of research to infer how a small portion of millets taken everyday can help manage diabetes better.
“The mix is available at the mela. We advise diabetes patients to take at least 80grams of millets per day as it is rich in fibre. When a person consumes millets, he feels full and automatically the desire to eat more comes down,” she said.
The University has developed a mix for sportspersons, Dr Naik said.
“We have noticed that when taken three hours before an event, this mix comprising millets increases an athlete’s endurance levels by 22%,” she said. However, notwithstanding all the benefits, unfortunately, millets comprise less than 6% of our total food grains today,” said Raghu.
If you want to know what this wonder grain can do for you, buckle up and head to Gandhi Bhavan near Shivananda Circle, between 10 am and 5 pm.
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