Millets in the mainstream | How Odisha’s Kutia Kondh tribe rediscovered a palate for the ‘poor man’s food’

Subject :Agriculture

Context

In news-

Centre is looking to replicate the “Model of the survival and promotion of millet crop” of Kutia Kondh tribals of Kandhamal district in Odisha.

Why millet lost its presence-

Padday and other grain’s inclusion in the public distribution system replaced millet.
Millet became a subsistence crop, and tribals started growing is to consume only and not to sell.
Tribals, especially from the younger generation, perceived millet as the poor man’s food.
It was not easy to harvest the crop. The de-husking of millet involved strenuous labour.
Since there was no market available for the crop, people did not produce more than what they required for their own consumption.

Revival model-

Volunteers identified the Burlang Yatra as the occasion around which they could strategise the revival of millets.
TheBurlang Yatra is a traditional annual festival of the Kutia Kondh tribe where the community, especially the women, worship and exchange seeds through a celebratory mode of songs and dances at the village level.
NIRMAN (an NGO), in collaboration with Millet Network of India (MINI), a forum founded for promotion of millet, started celebrating the Burlang Yatra on a large scale in order to increase awareness about millets.
The exchange of millet seeds was taken up more vigorously.
In a few years, millets staged a comeback to our crop field.
Through this little-known movement, the tribals also managed to revive pulses, oilseed and tubers which are regarded as companion crops.
Two species of the mint family, supposed to belong to the Himalayan belt, have also been identified as traditional crops cultivated by tribals of Kandhamal district.

Odisha government initiative-

In 2017, the Odisha government launched Millet Mission in 2017.
In 2022, almost two lakh farmers in 19 districts are involved in millet cultivation.
About 3.23 lakh quintals of millets have been procured.
The Odisha government has also started celebrating MandiaDibas (Millet Day) on November 10 to popularise the crop.

About Millet

It is a common term to categorise small-seeded grasses that are often termed Nutri-cereals or dryland-cereals and includes sorghum, pearl millet, ragi, small millet, foxtail millet, proso millet, barnyard millet and Kodo millet, among others.
They are also hardier and drought-resistant crops.
Millets can grow in poor soil conditions with less water, fertiliser and pesticides.
They can withstand higher temperatures, making them the perfect choice as ‘climate-smart cereals.

Distribution –

India, Nigeria and China are the largest producers of millets in the world, accounting for more than 55% of the global production.
For many years, India was a major producer of millets.
However, in recent years, millet production has increased dramatically in Africa.
In India,pearl millet is the fourth-most widely cultivated food crop after rice, wheat and maize.
Millets are available almost across India.

Benefits –

Millets can also help in tackling health challenges such as obesity, diabetes and lifestyle problems as they are gluten-free, have a low glycemic index and are high in dietary fibre and antioxidants.
Millets are Nutri-cereals that are highly nutritious and known to have high nutrient content which includes protein, essential fatty acids, dietary fibre, B-Vitamins and minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, potassium and magnesium.
It can provide nutritional security and protect against nutritional deficiency, especially among children and women.
It will also be critical for climate change measures in drylands and important for smallholder and marginal farmers.

Concerns /Challenges

The awareness of the benefits of millets is still low and this is the reason for the lesser number of players working on value-added millet products in India.
The main reasons behind the decline are low remuneration, lack of input subsidies and price incentives, subsidised supply of fine cereals through the public distribution system (PDS) and change in consumer preferences and lower demand
The lower demand also means limited supply and higher prices.
In the absence of proper market linkages for forest and agricultural produce, millet consumption is restricted to rural haats, bazaars, tourist spots and festivals.

Government Efforts to Promote Millets Production

Millets are being promoted through technology dissemination, quality seeds through millet seed hubs, awareness generation, minimum support price and inclusion in PDS.
Efforts are now being done to include the nutrient-rich smaller millets in the mid-day meal schemes in government and government-aided schools in Karnataka and Telangana.
Millet awareness is catching up fast in the urban centres such as Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi among others.
The Union Agriculture Ministry, in April 2018, declared millets as “Nutri-Cereals”, considering their “high nutritive value” and also “anti-diabetic properties”.
2018 was observed as the ‘National Year of Millets” and The UN General Assembly adopted an India-sponsored resolution to mark 2023 as the “International Year of Millets”.
The Government of India’s Millet Mission comes under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), launched in October 2007.
The Centre’s Millet Mission will focus on developing farm-gate processing and empowering farmers through collectives while focusing on value-addition and aggregation of the produce.