Following the COVID pandemic, India’s kitchens turned into laboratories of healing and rediscovery. With heightened anxieties about health and immunity, food became a very pronounced language of self-care.
From turmeric shots and millet porridge, to growing wild greens on their terrace gardens, people were returning to ingredients that their grandparents once swore by. What was referred to online as the “new normal” was in fact an old one – one that centred on now-forgotten native ingredients.
This growing curiosity coincided with a global rethinking of what it means to eat well. In 2021, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets, following a proposal by India and supported by 72 countries.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) described it as a global effort to increase awareness about the health and nutritional benefits of millets, their suitability for cultivation under adverse climatic conditions, and their contribution to sustainable market opportunities.
Like millets, many Indigenous crops and forest foods had all but disappeared from kitchens and markets – a loss that threatened biodiversity, rural livelihoods and cultural heritage.
The post-pandemic revival of traditional ingredients, supported by policy initiatives, community programmes, innovative startups and even restaurants with hyper-local cuisines are beginning to reverse that trend.
Through public procurement, value-added products and formal supply chains, these forgotten foods are reclaiming their place as tools for ecological resilience, economic empowerment and the preservation of cultural knowledge.
How millets moved from the margins to the mainstream
For decades, millets were sidelined: labelled coarse, excluded from public procurement, and linked to dry zones and food insecurity.
India, which contributes more than 80% of Asia’s and nearly 20% of the world’s millet production, finds itself at the centre of the millet conversation. So fittingly, under schemes such as the National Food Security Mission, Nutri Cereals and the PM RKVY, as well as the umbrella Krishionnati Yojana, states and farmers can receive technical guidance, training and support for cultivation, processing and market linkages.
Meanwhile, states such as Odisha have piloted ambitious models. Under its Odisha Millet Mission, the state directly engages farmer producer organizations (FPOs) and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in millet value chains, from seed to meal, and promotes consumption by incorporating millet-based dishes into anganwadi meal programmes – community childcare centres that provide nutrition to mothers and young children – and by supporting “millet cafés”, small eateries that serve millet-based foods to encourage healthier, local diets.
In cities, millet-laden breakfast bars, snack mixes, artisanal rotis and even millet-based liquor (in Odisha) are finding an appetite. This premiumization of the ingredient has opened an entirely new customer base located in urban India and this growing demand is reflected in the market: the Indian millet market was valued at approximately $5.05 billion in 2022, accounting for around 38-40% of global production.
Reports show that more than 500 startups operate along India’s millet value chain, with more than 80 emerging in the 18 months leading up to August 2023. The Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) has incubated many of these startups, while a compendium highlights 100 success stories, reflecting the sector’s rapid growth and potential.
Makhana can rewrite wetland narratives
While millets reclaim arid soils, makhana – fox nuts or lotus seeds – have the potential to rewrite wetland narratives. The state of Bihar grows roughly 90% of the world’s makhana supply, however, traditional harvesting methods involve plunging into deep ponds – dangerous, laborious and seasonal work that confines earnings to those intense weeks. But as startups, private funding and public interest grow, so does the potential for innovation in the field.
In his decade-long work, Dr Manoj Kumar, of the National Research Centre for Makhana, demonstrated that makhana can, in fact, thrive in as little as 30 cm of water, instead of 152-180 cm. This insight enabled cultivation in shallow wetlands and even field systems.
He also introduced polythene lining of bunds, flood-resistant techniques, line planting and varieties like Swarna Vaidehi. As a result, local farmers historically earning INR60,000 ($680) from rice have reported gross makhana returns of INR528,000 ($6,000), with net income near INR258,000 ($2,934) in a season.
Ground-level institutional support is converging. In 2025, Bihar Agricultural University launched the Organic Makhana Cultivation Programme (OMCP) targeting a 25–30% expansion in cultivation, mechanization and release of Sabour Makhana-1, a variety promising 3.5 tonnes per hectare with high popping rates.
The geographical indication (GI) tag – which identifies products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities particular to that place – for Mithila Makhana, assigned in April 2022, further strengthens regional branding and export positioning.
Just as industrial property and goods found protection and economic mobility through GI recognition, the same model is beginning to shape the future of Indigenous crops and forest produce.
Geographical indication tags are serving a crucial role in food, honouring origins, ensuring fair value and reviving markets that once lay dormant. The same model is now equipped to help shape the future of Indigenous crops and forest produce too.
Long collected by tribal women for both sustenance and seasonal income, mahua flowers have also gradually disappeared from plates under colonial liquor laws and modern market neglect. Today, community initiatives are turning dried mahua into laddus, jams, beverages, pickles and sweets, creating market value directly for local harvesters and restoring cultural agency.
Activists are pushing for GI recognition for mahua products, ensuring origin protection and fair pricing, much like millets and makhana have benefited from regional branding and institutional support.
Ecological interventions are under way as well: in Chhattisgarh’s Manendragarh region, the Mahua Bachao Abhiyan initiative has planted more than 112,000 saplings across 98 gothans (village grazing lands), engaging forest departments and communities to rejuvenate seed banks and ensure sustainable harvest.
The global market is rediscovering India’s traditional ingredients in new forms, too. Ghee, or clarified butter, which is mostly used in cooking, is now entering global beauty and wellness industries through ancient methods like Shataghrita, the hundred-times-washed ghee known in Ayurveda for its healing and moisturizing properties.
Similarly, moringa, valued in Indian home gardens, is now marketed worldwide as a “superfood”, appearing in markets as powders, teas and supplements for its nutrient density. Meanwhile, Amla, or Indian gooseberry, has found a global audience in hair and skincare products, for its vitamin C richness and antioxidant properties.
The rise of these native ingredients points to a possible shift from extraction to ecosystem building, where traditional wisdom is not rediscovered, but recontextualized for a modern consumer.
Striving for food resilience through diversity
For this revival to last, whether it be in India or elsewhere, several steps are crucial: integrating millets into a public distribution system and school meals, securing guaranteed markets, and ensuring farmers and collectors capture fair value through GI tags, cooperatives and value-added products.
Continued research, resilient crop varieties, processing infrastructure and hygienic handling are essential, alongside consumer awareness to make these ingredients everyday foods. Ecological safeguards, sustainable harvesting, wetland restoration and biodiversity protection, will keep the revival both profitable and sustainable.
The story of millets, and alongside them makhana and mahua, is one of agricultural revival and a story of India revisiting its own food map, of communities and policy-makers working together to restore a balance between what sustains the body, the land and the local economy.
Yet, it is also a story the world can learn from. As nations collectively grapple with the realities of climate change, nutritional insecurity and the loss of biodiversity, India’s experience offers a blueprint for how Indigenous foods can strengthen resilience, not just within borders, but across a shared global future.
Dipali Khandelwal, Hemlata Chauhan, Content Writer, The Kindness Meal
This article is republished from the World Economic Forum under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.