India was practicing agriculture as activity. Country is food secure and food surplus country. As per the archaeologists, millets were the first crop during Indus Valley Civilisation to be domesticated in India. World export of millet has increased from $400 million in 2020 to $470 million in 2021 (ITC trade map) India exported millets worth $75.46 million in the year 2022-23, against $62.95 million in 2021-22. To create the awareness and production of millets government had declared 2023 as the ‘International Year of the Millet’. 

Millets are the traditional food for people in Asia and Africa. Millets can likely achieve following SDGs: SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). 

• Farm Level: According to ICAR-IIMR, the utilization pattern is three fourth of the sorghum production which is going towards self-consumption i.e., consumed by humans. Regarding the utilization of ragi, it is similar to sorghum but 10 per cent of ragi is being utilized for creating value-added products into Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and 13 per cent of ragi is used as animal feed. Also, ragi is limited toward 1% of exports. The cultivation of millets is a part of Agriculture Revolution 4.0.
• At Industry Level: Millets are mostly used in the animal feed segment. Germination of millet  i.e., sprouts increases the activity of enzymes in grains also increases amino acids, and vitamins in chicken. This nutrition is a requirement of biological system of birds for their growth and immunity. This will give the enhancement doubling farmer’s income initiative. Jowar is used in distilleries for use of the liquor production.
• Ethanol Blending: Government wants to use excess food grain supplies including millets to achieve the target, of blending 20% ethanol by 2025. Taking this into account, it is projected usage of millets in distilleries to grow by a CAGR of 7.05% for the duration 2019-20 till 2029- 30. (ASSOCHAM 2022)
• Ready to Cook/ Ready to Eat: Urban youth population is becoming more health consciousness and moving toward millets consumption. So, many start-ups are coming up with millets-based food products. The growth can be seen in urban and semi-urban areas and likely to boost by 2030. The shelf-life of raw millet flour is about 2 months and mostly 7 days for pearl millet because they are easily prone to oxidative rancidity due to the free fats and sugars. The technologies like parboiling, irradiation and germination can enhance the shelf-life to 6–12 months.
• Others: Few organizations like IIMR, CFTRI, ICRISAT, ICAR and CGIAR are enabling favorable ecosystem by conducting R&D, capacity building, skill development programs and developing millet-based products such as millet biscuits, pasta, dosa, idli mix, ice-creams, noodles, flakes etc. to improve the quality of (3P’s) product, production, productivity, efficiency, economy and effectiveness (3E’s) of millets.

India is a self-sufficient country, but it needs to sensitize its benefits to its citizen. It also needs to capitalize on its millet market due to its demand on an international level because of its rich nutritional value.