India's millet movement is a nationwide push, backed by government policy and growing consumer demand, to bring traditional grains like bajra (pearl millet), jowar (sorghum) and ragi (finger millet) back into everyday Indian meals after decades of being sidelined by polished rice and refined wheat.
What Is the Millet Movement?
Millets were once staple grains across large parts of India, especially in drier regions of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra where they grow well with minimal water. Over the last few decades, rice and wheat gradually displaced them in most households. The millet movement is the effort to reverse that — through government promotion of millets as "Shree Anna" (a term used to highlight their nutritional and ecological value), farmer support, and 2023 being marked the International Year of Millets at the United Nations following a proposal led by India.
Why Millets Are Getting So Much Attention
Millets need far less water and fewer chemical inputs to grow than rice or wheat, which makes them more resilient to erratic rainfall and better suited to sustainable farming. On the nutrition side, most millets have a lower glycemic index than polished rice, along with more fibre, protein and micronutrients than refined grains — which is why they're increasingly recommended for people managing blood sugar or simply looking for a more wholesome everyday grain.
How Millets Fit Into a Modern Indian Kitchen
The easiest way most households are reintroducing millets isn't by cooking dedicated millet dishes from scratch — it's by swapping them into snacks and staples people already eat daily. Millet khakhra, millet-based sev and multigrain mixes let a family get the benefit of bajra, jowar or ragi without changing their entire diet, which is a big part of why millet snacking has grown quickly compared to millet-based main courses.
JVP Foods and the Millet Range
JVP Foods has leaned into this shift with a dedicated millet khakhra and sev range — including bajri khakhra, jowar khakhra and ragi-based options like ragi ratlami sev — made with the same hand-rolled, slow-roasted process as our wheat-based khakhra. The goal isn't to replace traditional khakhra, but to give households an easy, ready-to-eat way to work more millets into their week.
What are millets, exactly?
Millets are a group of small-seeded grains, including bajra (pearl millet), jowar (sorghum), ragi (finger millet) and others, that have been grown in India for centuries and require less water than rice or wheat.
Are millets gluten-free?
Most millets, including bajra, jowar and ragi, are naturally gluten-free, though products made in a facility that also processes wheat may still involve cross-contact — check individual product labelling for specifics.
What is "Shree Anna"?
Shree Anna is the term used by the Government of India to refer to millets, part of a broader push to promote them for their nutritional, environmental and farmer-income benefits.