Additional nutritious food in mid day meals

Hyderabad February 09:To encourage consumption, the agriculture department is planning to hold a millet mela at Necklace road in Hyderabad.Speaking at the foundation day of Indian Institute of Millet Research, agriculture principal secretary C Parthasarathi said the government has plans to increase millet consumption to overcome several nutrition issues."We will organize a millet mela in April and May months to create awareness about its benefits," said Parthasarathi.Several agriculture scientists explained that millets are very high in their nutrition content. They are three to five times nutritionally superior to rice and wheat in terms of proteins, minerals, and vitamins. They pointed that millets are rich in B vitamins, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, zinc, also gluten-free and has low-GI (Glycemic index) thus millets are suitable for people allergic to wheat.The department said that soil in Medak, Mahbubnagar, Adilabad and Rangareddy districts are suitable for millet production.