The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research – Indian Institute of Millets Research (ICAR-IIMR) organized an international webinar on ‘Development of Millets in India’ on 18 April 2024. The event was organized under FAO’s One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) initiative and was attended by more than 70 participants across the globe.

Millets was identified as the special agricultural product (SAP) for the OCOP by the FAO Country Office in India in collaboration with the Government of India. In India, the OCOP initiative is aligned with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Government of India’s One District One Product (ODOP) initiative alongside various stakeholders in academia, the private sector, and farmers’ associations. The OCOP initiative aims to promote the sustainable production and consumption of climate-resilient millets in India, improve farmer incomes, and enhance food and nutritional security.

The webinar served as a forum to share knowledge, experiences and lessons learned in the sustainable production, processing, and marketing of millets in India. It witnessed active participation from the FAO OCOP Secretariat, regional and India focal points, representatives from the government, agronomists, technical experts, researchers, and representatives of the private sectors.

The opening remarks were provided by Mr Jingyuan Xia, Executive Secretary of the OCOP Secretariat, Special Advisor to the Director General and Mr Takayuki Hagiwara, FAO Representative of India. He emphasized the global importance of climate-resilient millet and the need for essential collaboration between countries and FAO’s OCOP initiative to achieve the common goal of food and nutrition security. Mr Hagiwara commended the efforts of the Government of India, ICAR-IIMR and MoFPI’s for successfully mainstreaming millet for both farmers and consumers in India and for positioning India as a global leader. He also appreciated India’s ODOP initiative which provides a framework for value chain development and alignment of support infrastructure. He also highlighted FAO’s collaborative efforts with the ICAR-IIMR in strengthening FAO’s south-south cooperation initiatives by promoting millets in the region.

Mr Minhaj Alam, Additional Secretary, MoFPI, Government of India underlined the efforts of ODOP’s millet initiatives which have more than 30 programmes, six incubation centres on millets, and conducts several awareness-raising events. These efforts are taken in collaboration with the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEMS) and relevant government departments.

Mr Hafiz Muminjanov, Technical Adviser, NSP, FAO, shared an overview of the OCOP’s global implementation, progress and perspectives. Ms Xuan Li, Senior Policy Officer, Regional Office in Asia and the Pacific, FAO highlighted OCOP’s efforts in the Asia Pacific region. She emphasized the importance of leveraging science and innovative partnerships along the product value chain for OCOP implementation.

Dr C Tara Satyavathi, Director, ICAR-IIMR highlighted the efforts undertaken by ICAR-IIMR in millet improvement technologies, identification of suitable agro-ecological zones for millet cultivation, and use of generic resources in millet improvement, hybridization programme in small millets besides a range of other initiatives.

Dr B Dayakar Rao, CEO Nutrihub, ICAR-IIMR emphasized the multidimensional approach of IIMR for millet processing and value addition. ICAR-IIMR’s integrated approach includes interventions on-farm production through technology backstopping, diversification of processing technologies, nutritional evaluation and certification, commercialization, popularization and promotion, and entrepreneurship development.

The perspective of the private sector was discussed by Mr Mijanur Rahman, R&D Senior Director, PepsiCo India. Dr Ishwar Singh provided the closing remarks for the webinar who reiterated the importance of India’s ODOP and India’s foresightedness in mainstreaming millet which has led to India’s average productivity being higher than the global productivity.

FAO launched the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) initiative in September 2021 to contribute to implementing the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31 and promote inclusive, profitable, and environmentally friendly agrifood systems through the sustainable development of SAPs. In addition, the OCOP will help countries leverage their unique potential and identify products that are adapted to their specific production systems. Since 2021, over 85 Members from the five FAO regions have expressed their strong interest in the sustainable promotion of over 50 products.

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