AT THE BEHEST OF THE Indian government, the United Nations declared 2023 to be the “International Year of Millets.” It was just one of many initiatives India has undertaken in the last decade to promote millets, sometimes known as the country’s “forgotten” or “orphan²” crops. In fact, the passion for millet¹ revival³ was referred to as “millet madness” as early as 2013.

Millets are grasses with small, hard, round seeds, and nine different species have been cultivated in India since ancient times. But for decades, they’ve been sidelined by more favored staples⁴ such as rice and wheat. Indian government research in 2022 found that per capita millet consumption in the country had decreased since 1960 by a whopping 88 percent.

Despite its detractors, “Abundance in Millets” inspired imitators. In November 2023, Odisha Millet Mission, based in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, released its own music video for a song called “Ama Millets Mission.” A government-sponsored competition for millet songs was also announced in 2023, and though it was ended due to a lack of songs that met evaluation⁵ criteria⁶, entries can still be found online.