CUK’s Botany Deptt holds seminar on health benefits of millets

Ganderbal, Nov 1: The Department of Botany, Central University of Kashmir (CUK) organised a seminar on “Health Benefits of Millets” for the students and faculty at Science campus Nuner.

Speaking on the occasion, Head Deptt, Prof Azra N Kamili talked about the history of Millets when it was India’s major food grain. “Unfortunately we failed to utilize this crop as a new refined diet became available. However, the new refined diet is lacking in some important constituent’s which were present in the millets,” she said.

HOD Biotechnology, Prof Abid Hamid Dar, said that Millets are a rich source of Iron and have low glycaemic index that may solve the problems of anaemia and diabetes in India. Dean School of Life Sciences, Prof M Yousuf said that Millets being drought tolerant may be promoted in regions where proper irrigation facility is not available and also suggested that millets be added in confectionery to make it part of the food system.

Guest speaker, Dr Idrees Ahmad, Sr. Asst Prof Deptt of Food Science and Tech University of Kashmir, gave a lecture on “Health benefits of Millets” wherein he stated that Global production of millets during 2022 was 304.8 lakh tonnes and India produces about 120 lakh tonnes. “India is the largest producer of millets followed by China and Nigeria (FAO, 2023).” He emphasized that Millets are nutritiously rich, drought tolerant and mostly grown in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world and can solve problems in future related to climate change and food security. He said that if millets can be made part of the food system, diseases like Diabetic mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, Celiac disease, Peptic ulcer, Colon and Breast cancer and Obesity “can be controlled.”

Dr Sofi Javed Hussain conducted the proceedings, Dr Shaiesta Shah proposed the vote of thanks and Dr Rafiq Lone was the rapporteur.