The People’s Convention on Millets
Press Release
This International Year of Millets saw over 500+ farmers, CSO representatives and Government officials come together to deliberate upon a multi-sectoral approach to ensure that millet consumption benefitted not just consumers but rural communities.
Inspired by the collective wisdom of the participants from 28 states and the strength of RRA Network pan-Indian reach, Chief Guest, Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog, and Guests of honour – Shri Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, GOI; Dr. Arabinda Padhee, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of Odisha; Dr. Ashok Dalwai, CEO, National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA); Dr T Nandakumar, IAS (Rtd), Former Food and Agriculture Secretary to Government of India and Public Policy Expert on Agriculture and Smt. Chahat Bajpai, Additional Collector, Dist. Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, Government of Telangana discussed the people’s recommendations, based on field experience to frame a sustainable approach for a millet-based food system. Key elements of such an approach include:
For designing a comprehensive “plate-to-farm” millet food-system, five themes had been identified by the organisers – NRAA and Revitalising Rainfed India Network (RRA N) for round table discussions. Farmers, community members (WSHGs and FPOs), scientists and expert members engaged in five round table discussions to suggest the following policy recommendations based on experiences on the ground:
For designing a comprehensive “plate-to-farm” millet food-system, five themes had been identified by the organisers – NRAA and Revitalising Rainfed India Network (RRA N) for round table discussions. Farmers, community members (WSHGs and FPOs), scientists and expert members engaged in five round table discussions to suggest the following policy recommendations based on experiences on the ground:
MILLETS IN PUBLIC DIETS THROUGH PDS AND ICDS TO MITIGATE MALNUTRITION
Founding Principle(s)
* The essence of millet promotion by the government is for their nutritional and ecological values. Also, for the new generation to appreciate millets and include them in their consumption behavior needs commensurate public investments and action.
* This is best achieved by engaging with children, mothers through supplemental nutrition programs in the Anganwadis.
What are the Issues?
* Increasing evidence is available on potential impact of millets on nutrition indicators at local/ district level. How the Public Distribution System and ICDS, MDM and others are enabled to include millets in the supplementary nutrition programs? and
* Millet’s economy needs assured bulk demand for a period of time for the market players and investors to find their markets and establish value chains.
Recommendations:
* Develop the FAQs for state preferred millets
* Budget Allocation by GOI to invest upfront
* Decentralised processing – Block/ mandal level stock point – processing units can be established – from there material can go to AWCs to minimize transportation charges and storage pest management
* Institutional mechanism
* Behavioural changes – campaigns, food festivals and recipe competitions etc
* Culturally acceptable Recipes can be arrived
* Ask to enhance the investment per kid per day
* Incentives can be given to millets farmers as they r not using much of water / natural resources
MILLETS AND MARKETS
Founding Principle(s)
* Market starts with households choosing to eat millet; and sharing with neighbours”.
* Millions of farmers, farm workers, and others in peri-urban and small towns constitute the largest segment of millet markets in short-value chains.
What are the Issues?
* The focus is on urban organised, valued added and branded markets & exports. Strong local short-chain markets and markets for a millet-as staple for a large percentage of population is not in public discourse on IYOM.
* What enabling public initiatives are needed for this larger endorsement of millets as staple and growth in short-value chain markets?
Recommendations:
* Availability and accessibility of Primary processing of millets are key to increasing household consumption and catering to Block level markets. Support such a decentralised enterprise ecosystem to emerge.
* Support introducing millets into local food ecosystems – eateries, tiffin centres, snack food – by promotional investments, training and experimentation
* Planned strategy for extensive communication on millets – breaking myths, nutritional benefits, recipes, dietary intake levels and others; work with multiple stakeholders including health care system and ongoing programs
* R&D on millets product diversification for local food systems.
* Create space for millets in all the existing schemes such as FPOs, Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and others.
* State procurement and creating consistent bulk demand – for introduction into the Supplementary Nutrition Programs – ICDS/ MDM and PDS.
* State procurement policies should ensure that the emerging state procurement markets stay with SHGs and FPOs.
* Unlike the paddy-based system – millets in public nutrition programs must promote a method of – “storing raw grains in bulk” and encourage processing nearer to the final distribution points.
* Also, decentralise millet procurement around the ‘final distribution points” by involving FPOs/ SHGs.
* Millets are not allowed in the government warehouses as the standards are not developed/ notified by WDRA; millet traders/ FPOs are not able to access warehousing finance nor take advantage of the NCDEX -ecosystem.
“The Government of India will work on validating and synchronizing the decentralized knowledge system of millets of the local communities with the scientific knowledge of the universities. Food security, so far, has been very centralized, but today we need a decentralized system, which will be complex, but we have sufficient experience on the ground to work this out.”
– Shri Manoj Ahuja, Secretary Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, GOI
“Farmers, consumers and ecology must be at the center of millet policy framework design”
– Dr. Ashok Dalwai, CEO, National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA)
“I recommend NRAA to develop a detailed state wise package of practices for millets. Promotion of millets as a staple food, inclusion of millet to increase dietary diversity & focused increase in investments and support for increasing millet productivity are my three key recommendations”
– Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, Niti Aayog
“Increased R&D support is required for millet machinery for at least 10 – 20 years, a long term investment must be allocated“
– Dr. Arabinda Padhee, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of Odisha
“Millet is easy to introduce to children, acceptance and adoption can be facilitated by inclusion in ICDS. However, to smoothen out the inclusion process, small scale machinery for processing, decentralized district level procurement and sensitisation of the anganwadi teachers and staff are essential”
– Smt. Chahat Bajpai, Additional Collector, Dist. Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, Government of Telangana
“Decentralized processing and marketing of millets needs to be economically viable to attract private investments so that innovations like the “millet mixie” can be scaled up.”
– Shri Manoj Ahuja, Secretary Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, GOI
“Traditional millet varieties, adapted for certain agro-climatic conditions, are understood to have high productivity and climate resilience. I would recommend the government’s research institutions to further study these preliminary findings and recommend which varieties work best in which agroclimate and their suitable practices to enhance productivity. We must move from a centralized research and knowledge system to decentralized systems. Selected KVKs in millet-growing districts should be further capacitated for promoting innovative practices.”
– Dr T Nandakumar, IAS (Rtd), Former Food and Agriculture Secretary to Government of India and Public Policy Expert on Agriculture
MILLETS AND MACHINES
Founding Principle(s)
* Millets have an advantage storing as raw grains and processing only when needed. The ecosystem of processing enterprises should therefore, are best situated closer to the consumption in space and time.
* Enterprises for processing millets in short value chains supported by an ecosystem of support services (supply, spares, repair & maintenance) need to be in place servicing the short-chain millet markets.
What are the Issues?
* Millet markets start with households and neighbors! Large population of people who used to consume millets (and are consuming) are leaving it because of hardships in processing.
* Needs focus on public initiatives to strengthen the millet processing ecosystem nearer to the consumption.
Recommendations:
* Program to develop a support ecosystem to set up and strengthen (a) Hamlet and (b) Cluster scale decentralized small scale millet processing
* Practitioner driven R&D and innovations
* Covering on-farm, post harvest, primary & secondary processing
* Improving nutrition retention & utilization in local communities
* Standardization of parts & components
* Pest management through machine design & practices
* Skill Development – all stakeholders in the value chain
* Sustainable energy based solutions & energy efficiency of supply chain
* GST exemption for small scale millets processing machines & for millet rice
SEED SYSTEMS FOR MILLETS
Founding Principle(s)
* Diversity, local adaptability to multiple land types and farm situations in a given landscape are important in promoting millets. Landraces are performing well in such diverse situations.
* Important that the seed system is decentralized meeting specific location requirements and managed by the community.
* As the Seed Multiplication ratio in millets is high, this can be easily achieved.
What is the Issue?
Centralised seed development for multiple locations and their popularization through released varieties for subsidized distribution is an inappropriate strategy for millets.
What are the recommendations?
* Decentralised / localised seed systems are best for millets promotion
* A community led Mapping of Seeds, Knowledge and Ecosystem based wisdom including innovative cultivation methods to bring out local priorities
* Agro-ecological based evaluation (nutrition and resilience) for location-specific Traditional/ popular varieties
* Decentralised Seed System to facilitate quality seed access with WSHGs / FPOs – Locally produced & consumed, Community seed banks, farmers’ networks, custodian farmers.
* A framework on Research in Farmers’ fields with Research Institutes and Universities – * Revisit breeding objectives, Ecosystem based approach, Cropping systems
* Establishment of Millets Corridors (Custodian Network) value chain–Seed, grain, processing, food, market
MILLETS AND PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
Founding Principle(s)
Millets’ production and productivity need a different lens than the conventional Green Revolution as they have greater comparative advantage in the niches of multi-crop/ farming systems, varying land types, diversity, nutritive values and respond well to agroecological principles.
What are the Issues?
Promotion of monocrops through one-size-fits-all (such as HYV or hybrids of few millets uniformly across multiple geographies using intensive chemical inputs) disregard the agroecological advantages.
Recommendations:
* Millets promotion should take up location-specific agroecological principles (system of millet intensification (SMI), guli/guni ragi, and others) including use of traditional varieties, as studies/practice show better results, and ensure appropriate claims and entitlement for women farmers. It should not follow the Green Revolution trajectory of input-fetish (hybrid seeds, chemicals etc.,)
* There is a case for improving revenue for women farmers through better claims for entitlement, especially so for millet crops like madia, kodo, kutki that have traditionally been considered as female crops.
* Millets come up well in multiple terrains including marginal lands. It is not appropriate to compare their productivity with that of paddy or wheat as they are grown in different situations. Nevertheless, in some locations the conventional productivity is nearly at par.
* There has been a 2-to-3-fold increase in yield is generally observed; 3 tons per ha is achieved in finger millet through agroecology in small millets in several locations. Higher yields are also observed in other millets like proso, little and kodo millets; in several states.
* The focus should be on integrated farming with multi-cropping and livestock systems as also fisheries (where feasible) as constitutive components (food/fuel-fodder/feed-soil health)
* Further, in an integrated farming/multi-cropping scenario the measure of system-based productivity calls for a change in the matrix of calculation.
* There is a need for convergence of farmers’ traditional knowledge with evidence-based science. In particular, the benefits of science and technology to provide tools and machinery for the benefit of small and marginal farmers, women in particular, keeping in mind the location-specific package of agronomic practices (seed treatment, sowing, weeding, harvesting, threshing, and processing among others) is important.
* The nutritional advantage of millets is also important for people where the cultivation focus has been on other cereals (Punjab and Haryana). Call to bring back millets to the daily diets of millions (through reasonable prices). The little-known story of Sikandar (Alexandar) and Porus (the role of millets).
February 25, 2023
Inaugurating the first day of the People’s Convention on Millets for Millions, Dr. Ashok Dalwai, CEO of NRAA traced the trajectory of millets from being a forgotten food to being revalorised by India as a nutri-cereal in 2018, the National Year of Millets, which then led to the UN Declaration of 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Quoting the Millet Theme Song that was specially composed for the event, he said, “Millets will always be grown in India for they have a place in people’s hearts.” Along with other regional champions of millets, he felicitated Lahari Bai from Madhya Pradesh who conserves 150 millet varieties, stating,
“I am humbled by the knowledge, leadership and entrepreneurial spirit of farmers in rainfed regions whose work parallels those of well-endowed institutions.” – Dr. Ashok Dalwai, CEO of National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA)
– Dr. Ashok Dalwai, CEO, National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA)
The inaugural session was followed by roundtable discussions in which practitioners and policy-makers deliberated upon the most feasible pathways of taking millets to millions (farmers, entrepreneurs, and consumers).
Laxmi Narayan of Millet World, an entrepreneur who procures millets from 24 states for processing and sale, emphasized on the need for local processing. He said, “None of the machinery currently available in the country are fully suitable for millet processing. There has been no public investments in research and development of machines suited to millet grains. We are simply retrofitting paddy rice processing machines with the result that there is a lot of wastage in processing. This drives the prices up. If we can process locally, and the government can equip the 640,000 villages with millet processing equipment, then people can consume millets easily, including the broken grains that don’t have a market value.”
T. Nandakumar, IAS (Retd.), a Public Policy specialist in Agriculture said “It is important that states take the decentralised procurement pathway for procuring millets for public food distribution systems. It is simply the most efficient way to supply millets to the people. Combined with local processing, it will also help in preserving the nutritional value of the grain.”
Millet consumption to mitigate malnutrition in women and children was a recurring theme in the conference. Farmers would have an assured market if the government would procure millets in ICDS programs or for its mid-day meals scheme for the 11.80 crore children studying in 11.20 lakh schools. It was observed that the experiences of RRA Network in successfully partnering with government institutions to introduce millets in ICDS programs by promoting local production, processing enterprises and procurement in a few districts deserve to be more widely studied and replicated. Convergence with the government’s rural livelihood schemes and the PM FME Scheme would allow for last mile delivery of millets to consumers and benefit farmers and entrepreneurs.
These recommendations by the people to the government for direct support in the transition to a millet-based food system will be further deliberated upon by an illustrious panel of government dignitaries, which includes Shri Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, Niti Aayog.