Eat millet for health, says Minister Adhikari

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Aug. 2: With the aim of promoting the importance of millet and increasing its production, National Millet Day-2025 was observed for the first time in Nepal on Friday.

The government marked the Day with the slogan “Diet of Millet Dishes: Base of Food Security and Healthy Life”.

The main event was organised at Tathali, Changunarayan Municipality, Bhaktapur in the participation of stakeholders, including representatives from National Farmers Group Federation. Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ramnath Adhikari also attended the programme.

On the occasion, Minister Adhikari urged people to eat millet dishes once a day to stay healthy. 

"If we eat millet dishes rich in nutrition and medicinal properties, we can stay healthy," he said. 

Minister Adhikari said that promotion and diversification of millet dishes should be started to keep future generations healthy. 

He said, "If we make arrangements to keep millet dishes in the kitchen, even if it's just for one meal, we will actually be healthier."

Secretaries of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Dr. Govinda Prasad Sharma and Dr. Deepak Kumar Kharal said that there is no market problem for millet and millet-based crops, and only efforts should be made to increase its production.

According to the Department of Agriculture, millet is considered an important crop after maize in the hilly areas. It can be cultivated with less irrigation and less fertiliser. Rain water alone is enough to grow it.  

Most of the arable land and climate of Nepal seem to be suitable for the cultivation of millet crops. Millet crops are also more suitable than other crops from the perspective of climate change. 

Similarly, President of the National Farmers' Group Federation Panchakaji Shrestha stressed the need for the production of quality seed to increase production and productivity of millet.

Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development Dr. Ram Krishna Shrestha highlighted present status of production of millet and its importance. 

Ken Shimizu, FAO Country Representative for Nepal and Bhutan, said that the FAO has been conducting various programmes in collaboration with government of Nepal and stakeholders to promote climate friendly millet crops and will continue to do so in the coming days.

As the United Nations declared 2023 the International Year of Millet, Nepal also celebrated it by conducting various activities. 

According to the statistics of Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, around 300,732 tonnes of millet was produced last year in 224,935 hectares of land. The productivity of millet was only 1.33 tonnes per hectare. 

Due to the publicity and health awareness activities through various government and non-government agencies and media, along with the increasing demand for millet products, imports are also increasing. 

As the demand for millet-based dishes has been increasing in recent times, the import of millet is also increasing. 

According to the statistics of the Department of Customs, about 15,300 tonnes of millet products worth Rs. 766 million were imported. 

According to Our Myagdi Correspondent, farmers continue millet cultivation in the highlands of the district. They have continued millet cultivation as dishes made from millet are also beneficial for health.