• The ministry of agriculture said it has roped in cooperative NAFED for promotion of the government’s millets initiatives at global scale.

• NAFED will set up a millet corner in NAFED Bazaar retail stores, install millet vending machines across Delhi-NCR.

• It will also establish a millets’ experience centre at Delhi Haat, to promote nutritious millets and create awareness on the rich history of India through millet-based dishes. NAFED will extend marketing linkage to millets-centric startups.

• India, the world’s major millets producing country, is promoting millets as part of the International Year of Millets (IYoM) celebration this year.

What is NAFED?

• National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) is an apex organisation of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce in India. 

• It was established in 1958 under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act. 

• NAFED was founded with the goal to promote the trade of agricultural produce and forest resources across the nation.

• There are over 900 members in NAFED, represented by chief executives of apex level marketing/consumer cooperative/other national level federations, state level marketing/ tribal/commodity federations and primary cooperative marketing/processing societies.

• Agricultural farmers are the main members of NAFED.

• The activities of NAFED add to the betterment of agriculture and post harvest of the produce. NAFED procures stocks directly from the farmers in regulated mandis in open auction through the cooperative infrastructure thereby providing them a ready market, fair price and preventing their exploitation at the hands of private traders.

• Also, whenever there is a glut in market due to bumper production when prices tend to crash, NAFED undertakes procurement at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) under the Price Support Scheme in case of 16 notified commodities (pulses, oilseeds, copra, dehusked coconut, cotton) thereby providing remunerative prices to farmers for their produce.

The objectives of the NAFED are: 

i) To organise, promote and develop marketing, processing and storage of agricultural, horticultural and forest produce.

ii) Distribution of agricultural machinery, implements and other inputs.

iii) Undertake inter-state, import and export trade, wholesale or retail as the case may be.

iv) To act and assist for technical advice in agricultural production for the promotion and the working of its members, partners, associates and cooperative marketing, processing and supply societies in India. 

• NAFED also plays a crucial role in price stabilisation of essential commodities like onion and pulses through creation of national buffer on the direction of the government of India.

International Year of Millets

• Millets are a collective group of small seeded annual grasses that are grown as grain crops, primarily on marginal land in dry areas of temperate, sub-tropical and tropical regions.

• Millets were rendered as ‘orphan crops’ – less consumed and almost forgotten. Before ‘Green Revolution’ in the 1960s, millets made up around 40 per cent of all cultivated grains, which has dropped to around 20 per cent over the years. 

• Not only has the consumption of millets declined, but the area under production has been replaced with commercial crops, oilseeds, pulses and maize. These commercial crops are profitable, and their production is supported by several policies through subsidised inputs, incentivised procurement and inclusion in the Public Distribution System. 

• Given the nutritional value of the millets, the government notified millets as nutri-cereals in April 2018. 

• The United Nations has declared 2023 the International Year of Millets at the request of the government of India to raise awareness and increase the production and consumption of millets.

• The International Year of Millets will raise awareness about the contribution of millets for food security and nutrition, motivate stakeholders for continuous production and quality improvement of millets and attract attention to increase investment in research and development services.

• Millets are smart food with high nutritional value, are climate resilient, and align with several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are also important by virtue of their mammoth potential to generate livelihood, increase  farmers’ income and ensure food & nutritional security all over the world.

• Asia and Africa are the major production and consumption centres of millet crops. India, Niger, Sudan and Nigeria are the major producers of millets.

• Being grown in more than 130 countries at present, millets are considered traditional food for more than half a billion people across Asia and Africa.

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