SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Feb 5: With 2023 being declared the International Millet Year, both the agricultural community and Indian consumers have become curious about the importance and nutritional value of millets. Keeping this in mind, the three-day Agrotech Kisan Mela held at the Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) also showcased over five different varieties of millets at one of the stalls.
Researchers and professors shared the benefits of consuming millets and showcased different ways in which millets can be added to the diet of individuals, with the aim to spread awareness about the ‘Shree Anna’ as called by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Talking about the public intrigue and response, Dr Arun Kumar, Principal Investigator, All India Coordinated Research Project on Small Millets, BAU, Ranchi, said, “We have been promised support from the Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Agriculture. Along with this, officials have even promised provisions in the upcoming state budget to provide support to our programme.
He further informed, “Not only farmers, but even several youths were interested in the stalls. Several came to us for information about the different ways to begin start-ups related to millers, while some came to us for business plans and to learn how to make money off millets.”
Talking about the stalls, the researcher said, “We had several types of display materials at the stall. First of all, we exhibited five varieties of millets, of which four were on Madua, while one was of
“The first variety was one of the oldest varieties named A-404. Almost a 20-year-old variety, this has an average yield of 40-45 quintals, however, its maturing period is around 125-130 days. After this, another variety named Birsa Madua 2 was developed which was also showcased at the stall. This variety is newer, and has a maturing period of 115-120 days; however, this variety also had its issues. There were several cases of a disease in its crops due to the effects of the environment,” he added.
Kumar further said that the third variety was one developed in 2022 named Birsa Madua 3. Its maturity period is between 105-110 days and it gives a yield of around 25-30 quintals. These were the three types of brown ragi. After much public demand, a white ragi was developed for confectionary purposes named Jharkhand White Madua 1. The proposal for this is yet to be submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture for approval, after which, this will be ready to be distributed among farmers. However, all formalities related to this have been completed.
“Birsa Gundli 1 was the fifth type of millet displayed, along with which, we also displayed 10 types of seeds of different millets. We also informed people of the different health benefits along with the micro and macronutrients, the medicinal benefits related to every millet variety, and the value-added products that can be made from them. These included Madua, Gundli, Foxtail, Brown top, Barnyard millet, Little millet, Jowar, Bajra, and Buckwheat among others. Of these, in Jharkhand over 5-6 millets can be grown here,” he added.
The stalls by the Home Science department at BAU also displayed biscuits, cakes, noodles, pasta, flour, momos, barfi, laddoo, poha, idli and shared information about the different items that can be made from millet.
