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NCERT Solutions for Class 6th Science Chapter 3 In-text Questions — Millets and 3.6 Food Miles

Book page 53–55 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.
Have you ever had food items made from these millets?
Answer

Yes — millets appear in Indian kitchens far more often than we notice. Jowar, bajra, ragi and sanwa are native crops of India and have been an integral part of the Indian diet for centuries.

MilletDishes made from itWhere it is common
Bajra (pearl millet)Bajra roti with gud and butter, bajra khichdi, raabRajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat
Jowar (sorghum)Jowar bhakri, hurda, jowar upmaMaharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana
Ragi (finger millet)Ragi mudde, ragi roti, ragi malt, mandua rotiKarnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand
Sanwa (barnyard millet)Sanwa kheer and khichdi, eaten during vratUttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand
Why millets are coming back: they are highly nutritious grains — good sources of vitamins, minerals such as iron and calcium, and dietary fibres — which is why they are also called nutri-cereals. They also grow easily in different climatic conditions and need much less water than rice.
Did you know? The year 2023 was observed as the International Year of Millets, on a proposal made by India — a recognition of grains that Indian farmers have grown for thousands of years.
Q2.
How does food reach from a farm to our plate? What are the steps involved in this process? Who are the people involved in this process?
Answer

Follow the story of a chapati, exactly as shown in Fig. 3.10.

1. Farmer grows wheat 2. Threshing and winnowing 3. Storage of grains 4. Grinding and packing 5. Transport to retail shop 6. Food on our plate Every arrow costs time, money, fuel — and adds to the food miles of the chapati.
The story of a chapati, from farm to plate, as shown in Fig. 3.10 of your book.

The people involved:

  • The farmer and farm labourers — ploughing, sowing, watering, harvesting.
  • Workers who do the threshing and winnowing, and machine operators.
  • Storage staff at the godown or warehouse.
  • Workers at the flour mill who grind and pack.
  • Truck drivers, loaders and railway staff who transport it.
  • The shopkeeper, and finally the cook at home who kneads the dough and makes the chapati.
Why we should know this: once you can name every pair of hands the wheat passed through, leaving half a chapati on the plate stops feeling harmless.
Q3.
Do you know how much time and effort is required to get the wheat flour once seed grains germinate in the farm?
Answer

It takes months, not days. Try to find the timeline for the various processes yourself, but this is roughly how it works for wheat in north India.

StageApproximate timeEffort involved
Ploughing and sowing (November)2–3 weeksPreparing the field, manure, seeds
Germination and growthAbout 4 months4–6 irrigations, weeding, protection from pests, birds and stray cattle
Harvesting (March–April)1–2 weeksCutting the crop, tying and carrying the bundles
Threshing and winnowingA few daysSeparating grain from stalk and husk
Storage and transportDays to monthsBagging, loading, keeping the grain dry and safe from insects
Grinding and packingHoursMilling into aata, packing
From seed to the flour in your kitchen: about 5 to 6 months of work, plus the water of several irrigations and the labour of many people.
The lesson: we must take only as much food as we can consume. That single habit reduces food wastage — and it respects the months of time and effort put in by our farmers and other community members.
Q4.
How would eating local food help reduce food miles?
Answer

Because food miles are simply the distance the food has travelled — the entire distance travelled by a bag of wheat or any other food item, from the producer to the consumer. If the producer is nearby, that distance is small.

Apple from Himachal to Chennai ≈ 2,700 km of travel → high food miles
Banana from a farm 20 km away → very low food miles

What eating local does:

  • Cuts the cost — less fuel, fewer trucks, less packing, so the food is cheaper.
  • Cuts pollution — less diesel burnt during transport.
  • Supports local farmers — the money stays with the farmer near your town instead of going into transport.
  • Keeps food fresh and healthy — vegetables picked the same morning have not lost their vitamins in three days of travel.
  • Needs less cold storage and fewer preservatives.
Try This: Look at five things in your kitchen and find out where each came from — the local sabzi mandi, another state, or another country. Add up roughly. That number is your family's food miles for the day.
Q5.
Try to find the timeline for the various processes involved in getting the food from farm to plate (Fig. 3.10).
Farmer growingwheat Threshing andwinnowing of grains Storage ofgrains Grinding of grainsand packing Transport toretail shop Food onour plate STORY OF CHAPATI:FROM FARM TO PLATE
Fig. 3.10, page 54 — redrawn sketch: from farm to plate. The six steps of the story of chapati, in order, going clockwise.
Answer

Make the timeline yourself by asking a farmer, a shopkeeper and a flour mill owner. Here is a worked example for wheat, which you can adapt to rice, potato or milk.

ProcessWhen it happensTime taken
SowingNovember1–2 weeks
Germination to ripeningNovember to Marchabout 120–140 days
HarvestingMid-March to April1–2 weeks
Threshing and winnowingRight after harvest2–5 days
Storage in godownApril onwardsweeks to several months
Grinding and packingAs requireda few hours
Transport to the retail shopSame week1–3 days
Shop to our plateThe day we buy ita few hours
What the timeline shows: nearly all the time is spent in the field, and nearly all the distance is covered after the field. Reducing waste helps the first part; reducing food miles helps the second. Eat healthy, share, and respect food — and support local producers.
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