Govt must introduce millets in mid-day meal scheme: Kant

The government must introduce millets into diet of the mid-day meal programme to improve India's low nutrition ranking, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Wednesday said. Speaking at a workshop on 'Energy-Water-Agriculture Nexus: Grow Solar, Save Water, Double the Farm Income', Kant further said India needs to intensify crop diversification and public procurement must focus on very less water intensive crops.

"We must introduce pulses and millets into the diet of the mid-day meal programme. Procurement must move away from wheat and rice to millets and pulses, which are more nutritious," he said. The Niti Aayog CEO also stressed on need of continuous dialogue with farmers to improve agriculture productivity.

He also noted that many states are trying to improve the consumption of water through measures like advancement of technology and reducing prices of renewable energy resources. "The agriculture sector consumes 90 per cent of India's water consumption and without reducing this consumption, we will never be able to meet rural, urban & industrial needs,"Kant noted.