Bengaluru's First Millet Mela Hits Rajajinagar

Bengaluru hosted its first-ever Millet Mela on May 28, 2024, at the Karnataka State Agricultural Marketing Board premises in Rajajinagar.

Organized by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Karnataka, in collaboration with various partner organizations, the mela was designed to push millets back into everyday diets by spotlighting their nutritional value. Millets have seen a national policy push since India championed the UN's International Year of Millets in 2023, and state governments have been running catch-up ever since.

For Bengaluru, a city better known for its craft coffee and cloud kitchens, an agriculture-department-backed mela at a marketing board campus is a pointed signal: the millet push is moving from policy paper to public square. Jai jowar.