At a time when the country faces severe drought, alternative foodgrain like jowar, ragi and bajra becomes increasingly important.

When it comes to nutritional values, these alternative foodgrain are much better than our traditional favourite — rice and wheat. They are also better suited to the conditions of drought as opposed to rice and wheat.

The lessons that I am about to point out are drawn largely from the wisdom of the ages when our traditional diets included far more diversity than today’s diets.

Most varieties of millets have a much better content of calcium as compared to rice which contains only 10 mg of calcium per 100 gms.

The content of calcium in wheat is better than rice but there is no grain that could beat ragi in its nutritional worth. Ragi in fact is high on calcium content; so much so that it is comparable to milk, which is one of the best sources of calcium.

It is not only in terms of calcium that the millets score over rice and wheat. The millets are richer sources of iron, protein and fibre. Some of the millets also contain many micronutrients that are absent in rice and wheat.

Our country has acquired this dubious distinction of having a high percentage of undernourished children giving a close competition to the sub-Saharan regions.

If millets could be incorporated into various government schemes for our undernourished children, they would benefit immensely from the superior nutritional value.

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