Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Pranay Verma has highlighted the important role of millet in ensuring food security, popularising nutritional diet, promoting sustainable agriculture, and securing financial empowerment of farmers.

He noted that Bangladesh and India have immense scope to cooperate in the exchange of knowledge, sharing of best practices, and in the research and development initiatives related to the small cereal grain.

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

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

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

The food minister 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 millet.

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

(With inputs from agencies)