Srinagar, June 14: More than 200 farmers in Chani village in Udhampur district have sown millets in the village which is expected to become the first model millet village in Jammu and Kashmir with an aim to increase the millet production.
Chief Agriculture Officer, Udhampur, Sanjay Anand said more than 200 farmers in the Chani village have sown millets and this is the first such village where people have taken up the millet crop at mass level this year.
“Earlier, there was no tradition of millets however due to lack of irrigation facilities, they have realized its need and started sowing millets which is encouraging,” he said.
The department has expanded the area and provided technical and financial support to the farmers who will reap their first produce in September or October this year.
The agriculture department in Udhampur district has worked hard for capacity building of the farmers and provided them high-quality millet seeds.
Sanjay said that the farmers take 100 percent benefits under the farmer welfare schemes like Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PMKISAN), Kisan Credit Card (KCC) etc.
In order to make marketing easier, the CAO said they are planning to open a millet restaurant in the village where all the original millet foods will be available.
“Millets are a rich food. It is also known as poor man’s food and does not require much irrigation. We want to add the millet area in other areas, especially non-irrigated areas as there are water issues. Millets have low input cost and high market value,” he said.
The CAO said they have also assured the farmers to provide them all the marketing support so that they can sell their produce on time.
“Millets fetch good prices in the market as compared to cereal foods. In Udhampur, only we will connect them with the markets and will also link them with online stores so that they don’t face any problem in marketing,” he said.
He said that the agriculture department has also talked to a chain of restaurants that can also connect the farmers and they will be able to sell their produce without any hassle.
The department is planning to create Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) in the district and this is for the first time that they have got such an encouraging response from farmers.
“Earlier, they would not sow millet and shifting farmers to new crops was a tough job and it happened only due to the concerted efforts of the officials of the department,” he said.
Earlier, the department conducted awareness programs in the village to transform it into a model millet village which is happening for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that the goal of popularising millet, its nutritional value and health benefits, ecological suitability, and beneficial effects of millet cultivation on preserving the ecosystem’s rich biodiversity were highlighted to the farmers.
Millets can grow on arid lands with minimal inputs and are resilient to changes in climate besides being an ideal solution to increase self-sufficiency, reduce reliance on imported cereal grains.
The United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session in March 2021 declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023).
Millets were once grown as traditional crops in several countries like China, Japan, India, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and several other Asian and African countries.
