India is the world's largest producer of millets, producing 17 million tonnes annually of nine different varieties of millets, which is about 20 per cent of the global production. Millets offer unique nutritional benefits and can grow on arid land with minimal rainfall and relatively resilient to changes in climate.
Umendra Dutt called upon Chandigarh to play a leading role in India in the International Year of Millets 2023 and assured that the Kheti Virasat Mission has been trying to propagate millets since 2008 and to play the role of a partner in this mission with the Chandigarh administration.