ASEAN – India Millets Festival opens in Jakarta hinh anh 1Millets farm (Photo:business-standard.com) 

New Delhi (VNA) – ASEAN and India on November 22 launched a five-day Millets Festival in Jakarta, a move aimed at raising awareness and creating a market for millets and millets-based products among the 10-member bloc.

India’s ambassador to ASEAN Jayant Khobragade said that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the ASEAN-India Summit and East Asia Summit on September 7, and one of the joint statements adopted at there was about food security.

Describing millets as one of the important elements for ensuring food security, he said this was very well in the overall framework of the ASEAN-India relationship. Khobragade also highlighted the crucial role of millets in addressing global hunger and nutrient deficiencies.

Arief Prasetyo Adi, head of the National Food Agency Badan Pangan Nasional (BPN)) Indonesia, underscored millets as a farmer-friendly and sustainable food choice for the future in the face of climate change.

He said that the festival has an opportunity to raise awareness of the benefits of millets, from nutritional status and environmental sustainability to economic development.

India spearheaded the UN General Assembly Resolution for declaring the year 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’, a move aimed at addressing food security challenges./.

VNA