What are millets? Why millets are …

Jowar, bajra and ragi are the important millets grown in India. They can grow in harsh climatic conditions with low rainfall and poor soils. Due to greater roughage content among the nutrients present they are called coarse grains.
They are important food crops after rice and wheat. Inspite of being coarse grains they have very high nutritional value and are known as the poor man’s cereal.
Jowar is the third most important food crop of India with respect to area and production. It is a rain-fed kharif crop, mostly grown in the moist areas which hardly need irrigation. Maharashtra is the largest producer of jowar, followed by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Bajra grows well on sandy soils and shallow black soil. Rajasthan is the largest producer, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.
Ragi is very rich in iron, calcium and other micro-nutrients and roughage. It grows in dry regions in areas of red, black, sandy, loamy and shallow black soil. Karnataka is the largest producer, followed by Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand.