Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi Nadendla Says, "We Must Conduct R&D In All Areas Of The Value Chain Of Millets"

Improved varieties, longer shelf life, efficient processing, and market access are all critical to strengthening the millet value chain, according to Vijaya Lakshmi Nadendla, joint secretary of the agriculture ministry.

"We must conduct R&D in all areas of the millet value chain and bring together knowledge of production, processing, and storage and make it available to the consumer," said Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi Nadendla, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, speaking at the FICCI-organized Plenary Session on 'Strengthening Millet Value Chain with Collaborative Approach' on March 19th.

Mr. Jitendra Joshi, Chairman of the FICCI Task Force on Millets and Director of Seeds, South Asia for Corteva Agriscience, stated on the occasion, "Millets are a nutritionally dense, easy-to-grow, farmer-friendly crop with no environmental impact. Millets, as the Prime Minister correctly stated, are a solution for both personal and global health." "Let's put our millets on the map," he added.

Mr. Manoj Juneja, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of the World Food Programme (WFP), emphasized the importance of millet in ensuring food and nutritional security, promoting biodiversity, and empowering farmers. "It's past time to rebrand millets and foster resilient food systems," he said. Mr. Sivakumar S, Group Head - Agri & IT Businesses, ITC Limited, emphasized the importance of synchronization of the millets value chain in scaling millets. "Millet's stakeholder partnerships are critical to creating such synchronization," he said.

The International Year of the Millets (Shree Anna) 2023 campaign, according to chef Harpal Singh Sokhi, "is a great start towards making a sustainable Indian product as a lifestyle product on a worldwide scale." A further request was made for "collaborative participation from all the stakeholders, starting from seed firms to farmers and chefs to marketplaces and eventually the consumers themselves" by Mr. Pankaj Agarwal, Founder, and MD of Just Organik.

The resurrection of millet food and crop cultures within agricultural communities is crucial to achieving the goals of the International Year of Millets campaign and making it more sustainable, according to Ms. Vishalakshi Vuyyala, Director of Minkan Agro Industries.

Speaking at a separate session on the opportunity for women's empowerment to create millet success stories, Nadendla stated that women's contributions to agriculture are enormous, regardless of whether the crop is traditional, horticultural, or any other.

She added that as the government promotes millet cultivation and increases demand, it is expected that more women will become involved in millet cultivation, necessitating the need for skilling and capacity building.

Nadendla mentioned the International Year of Millets campaign, saying, "I'm optimistic that demand will increase and markets will expand. There is also a significant export potential ".

She also spoke on the 10,000 Farmers Producer Organisations (FPO) program of the government, stating the government is "exclusively promoting 100 percent women FPOs" and issued a guideline for the inclusion of "one woman on the Board of Directors of each FPO".

She also discussed the Ministry of Agriculture's dedicated FPO program, which includes "various measures for women empowerment."

-PIB

Also Read:- 

‘Millet Man’, PV Satheesh Passes Away At 77 After Lingering Illness

Dairy Farmers In Coimbatore Are Dumping Milk On Streets For Better Purchase Prices