High Commission of India celebrates International Year of Millets 2023

High Commissioner Pranay Verma inaugurated an exhibition on “Food Security and Importance of Millets” at the Indian Cultural Centre in Dhaka on 21 May 2023. The exhibition is being organized as part of the events to celebrate the International Year of Millets 2023.

Food Minister of Bangladesh, Sadhan Chandra Majumder was the chief guest at the occasion. Mr. Robert D. Simpson, Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Bangladesh was the special guest. Renowned agricultural expert of Bangladesh, Dr. Mirza Hasannuzzaman, Professor, Department of Agronomy, Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University, delivered the expert remarks as the guest speaker on the occasion.

In his address, High Commissioner Verma highlighted the important role of millets in ensuring food security, popularizing nutritional diet, promoting sustainable agriculture, and securing financial empowerment of farmers. He noted that India and Bangladesh have immense scope to cooperate in the exchange of knowledge, sharing of best practices, and in the research and development initiatives related to millets.

Sadhan Chandra Majumder appreciated the initiative taken by the High Commission of India in organizing the event. He also highlighted the steps being taken by Bangladesh to transform its agricultural sector and to increase the production and consumption of millets.

Agricultural cooperation is an important component of India-Bangladesh partnership. Both India and Bangladesh can lead the way in harnessing the power of millets to build a brighter and more prosperous future for our two countries.

Millets have been an integral part of our diet for centuries. In addition to a plethora of health benefits, millets are also good for the environment with lower water and input requirement. With the aim to create awareness, and to increase production and consumption of millets across the world, the United Nations, at the behest of the Government of India, declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets.