Year: 2026 | Month: June | Volume 13 | Issue 1
Cultivation of Nutrient-Dense and Climate-Resilient Small Millets for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals
Sagar Maitra1
Masina Sairam1
Shaik Rishitha1
Harun I. Gitari2
Dinkar J. Gaikwad2
Santosh D.T.3
Satya Prasad Nanda1
N. Swathi1 and Sumit Ray1*
DOI:10.30954/2347-9655.01.2026.13
Abstract :
Present agriculture suffers from several constraints, including declining and polluting natural resources, increasing input demands, climatic vagaries, and abiotic and biotic stresses. In this situation, raising a healthy crop is difficult, particularly for major cereals. Cereals are major sources of caloric energy for human beings, who suffer because of these problems. These consequences call for ecologically and nutritionally sound crops. Small millets have the qualities to confront this situation. They earlier remained the principal cereals for small and marginal farmers. Their cultural heritage made them an inevitable part of rural livelihood in several African and Asian countries. Small millets are nutrient-rich minor cereals that can be grown on resource-constrained marginal lands with low inputs under diversified cropping and farming systems. Moreover, their alignment with some Sustainable Development Goals highlights their importance for food and nutritional security. This article investigated the potential of some important small millets as nutrient-rich, agroecologically sound crops suitable for several cropping systems.
Highlights
- Small millets can be successfully grown in resource-constrained, diversified cropping and farming systems.
- Small millets are nutritionally rich and can help alleviate hidden hunger;
- Their agroecological significance has made small millets climate-resilient crops under the current climate change scenario.
- Small millet cultivation is potentially aligned with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
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