FAO side event on International Year of Millets (IYOM) 2023 was held during the Ninth Session of the Governing Body (GB-9) of the International Treaty (Food and Agricultural Organisation) being hosted by the Government of India in New Delhi today.
The side event on IYOM-2023 focussed on celebrating Millets’ farmers. Ms. Shubha Thakur, Joint Secretary (Crops), Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare gave a brief presentation showcasing India’s preparedness for IYOM 2023 and how India is gearing up to work closely with farmers and the entire value chain to put Millets on every plate. The presentation also touched upon the concerted efforts of 19 Ministries to run awareness drives and G2B, B2B and B2C conversations across India and the global community at large for IYOM-2023. She laid special emphasis on millets at the centre of food security and crop diversity as a solution for farmers’ betterment, as a run-up to the IYOM 2023.
The panel discussion, chaired by Ms Shubha Thakur, had participation from Millets’ experts, including Dr Dayakar Rao B., Principal Scientist, ICAR-IIMR; Ms Manisha Bhasin, Corporate Chef, ITC Hotels; Dr Arvind Kumar, Deputy Director General (Research), ICRISAT; Mr. Rohit Chaudhary, Director Development, Akshaya Patra Foundation; Shri P. C. Chaudhary, Director of Agriculture and Food Production, Odisha; Shri Vijay Patil, representative from Karnataka Millets Mission; Ms. Vishala Reddy, Founder, Millet Bank (start-up); Ms. Sharmila Oswal, Founder, Basillia Organics (start-up); Mr Konda Chavva, OIC, FAO India; and Mr Jainendra Singh, Assistant Director (Programme), All India Radio who moderated the session.
The session laid out India’s plan for celebrating IYOM 2023 across the world to work towards putting Millets on every plate.
The event also had a provision of stalls which were set-up by various millet start-ups and FPOs to showcase their products. The session was followed by a specially curated millet lunch for all the attendees.
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(Release ID: 1860663)
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