Millets are not just crops, they are concepts embedded in the rural people’s food cultures and agricultural practices, proclaims the opening sentence of the MINI website. The millet network of India (MINI) is an all India alliance of 65 institutions, individuals consisting of farmers, scientists, nutritionists, policy makers, civil society groups and food activists representing over 17 states of India. They are not just advocating the re-entry of millets into the popular food culture but are also trying to underline that connected to this marginalised grain are the lives of a multitude of marginalised people.
“The millet food culture has greatly diminished from the present generation especially in the urban regions and in the rural areas where green revolution driven policies have led to complete change in farming systems and cropping,” says Srinivas Vatturi, National Coordinator MINI. The Green Revolution brought forth agricultural “development” which gave importance to irrigation-dependent, fertilizer-demanding high yielding hybrid variety of rice and wheat which overshadowed the traditional ‘coarse grains’ which did not demand too much from the soil. Along with this, the millet people, mainly Dalits, adivasis and women who had practised sustainable agricultural practices, found themselves on the fringes of the agricultural society and like their crop, pushed towards the margins.
Though neglected by the government, various kinds of millets are grown still. “In spite of millets being neglected from the mainstream, different parts of India grow different kinds of millets. Rajasthan along with a large part of ‘Rainfed India’ cultivates Pearl Millet [Bajra]. Deccan plateau [Marathwada in Maharashtra, Telangana in Andhra Pradesh and North Karnataka in Karnataka] is well known for the production of sorghum (jowar). Southern Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, Orissa and Himalayas are the home of Finger millet [Ragi]. Uttarakhand and other hill and tribal areas cultivate a range of small millets such as Foxtail, Proso, Kodo and Barnyard,” explains Mr. Vatturi. Millets have the unique capacity to grow in only rain-fed conditions hence doing away with the need for expensive irrigation systems. If one kg of rice needs 4,000 litres of water, jowar grows on no water! They also have amazing nutritional values and are tasty too.
Cultivation of millets has obvious advantages. The second national consultation on millets held in 2009 brought out the Delhi Declaration on millets which said that India’s current agrarian crisis which would be compounded by the impending climate crisis could be effectively fought by the millet magic. They can grow in high heat, demand very little water and are an antidote to the malnutrition.
Rural poverty, malnutrition, farmer suicides and debts, loss of biodiversity and climate changes are only some of the realities that we are faced with today. The ease with which millets can be cultivated can provide food security to the poor and can also provide nutritional security. It basically provides six critical securities: food, fodder, health, nutrition, water and ecological.
Not needing to heavily depend on expensive irrigation systems and fertilizers can ease some of the pressure on farmers to have high yields and profits. And in turn they need not focus solely on cash crops and grow foods that are more resonant with their traditions and nutrition requirements. Some varieties of millets are also used as fodder for cattle which results in more natural manure and less dependence on chemical fertilizers that rob the soil of its value.
Mr. Vatturi says, “The vibrancy of millet based bio-diverse mixed farming systems that even now exist and are in full practice in many parts of the country, are true evidence to the advantages of millet food and farming in India. The famous Baranaja cropping systems in the Himalayas are a testimony to this. In this millet led system are embedded 12 different crop varieties. Saat Dhan in Rajasthan also is a host to a large variety of millets. The Pannendu Pantalu in Telengana region and the Navadhanya system in Karnataka of the South India, grow millets in combination with pulses and oilseeds, thus making it a holistic farming system.”
Going back to millets can also help reverse the ecological crisis that is fast escalating out of proportions. Rice needs standing water in the fields due to which methane gases, which contribute to the greenhouse effect and global warming, are produced. Wheat is thermal sensitive and would most likely disappear with an increase in temperatures.
Though such obvious advantages of growing millets are apparent, why are they given the step-motherly treatment that they suffer? Millets are not a part of the Public Distribution System which by supplying mainly rice at cheap prices has changed food habits of the rural poor. Millets have also been associated with poverty and thus deemed low quality of food.
It is also easier to get credit and crop loans from state institutions for commodity crops such as sugarcane and cotton grown as monocultures. And the biggest reality is that demand rules the market and the millet cultivators, to their dismay, find that there are hardly any takers for their product. But some people, especially in the urban areas, still remember the goodness of millets but find it difficult to procure them. Jhansi Perumalla, a student says, “My mother used to make jowar rotis when I was young. But she doesn’t make it now because she cannot get good quality jowar. The jowar flour that we can buy is not that good. So now she makes it on occasions like Sankranti when we get the flour from my village.”
In such a scenario, the advocacy and local level works of MINI plays a big role. As part of their endeavour to bring millets back into the food map, they aim to tackle the issue at local, national and policy making levels. MINI has asked the government to include millets in PDS. At the local levels, different NGOs and farmers groups are trying to help farmers regain the lost tradition of millet cultivation. Deccan Development Society, an NGO based in Pastapur, Medak district, for instance, runs a decentralised PDS system and a food bank belonging to millet farmers and also promotes distribution of natural seeds.
Advertising millets to gain mass appeal, processing it into attractive foods, popularizing recipes which use millets and conducting food festivals are some methods envisaged by MINI. DDS has established an organic millet restaurant called Cafe Ethnic in Zaheerabad town which specialises in millet food. Millets can also be slowly incorporated in government and welfare hostels, government offices and the like.
MINI hopes to make the government and policy makers realise that millet farming is not just the cultivation of a set of crops but is a profound concept deep rooted in the indigenous cultures, beliefs and distinct lifestyles, which together affirm life and diversity embedded in their knowledge systems. And as Mr. Vatturi likes to remind people, “The problem is with non recognition and valuing of these cropping systems, rather than lack of knowledge or culture.” If properly recognised, millets can be the unquestioned future of food and farming in India.
“The millet food culture has greatly diminished from the present generation especially in the urban regions and in the rural areas where green revolution driven policies have led to complete change in farming systems and cropping,” says Srinivas Vatturi, National Coordinator MINI. The Green Revolution brought forth agricultural “development” which gave importance to irrigation-dependent, fertilizer-demanding high yielding hybrid variety of rice and wheat which overshadowed the traditional ‘coarse grains’ which did not demand too much from the soil. Along with this, the millet people, mainly Dalits, adivasis and women who had practised sustainable agricultural practices, found themselves on the fringes of the agricultural society and like their crop, pushed towards the margins.
Though neglected by the government, various kinds of millets are grown still. “In spite of millets being neglected from the mainstream, different parts of India grow different kinds of millets. Rajasthan along with a large part of ‘Rainfed India’ cultivates Pearl Millet [Bajra]. Deccan plateau [Marathwada in Maharashtra, Telangana in Andhra Pradesh and North Karnataka in Karnataka] is well known for the production of sorghum (jowar). Southern Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, Orissa and Himalayas are the home of Finger millet [Ragi]. Uttarakhand and other hill and tribal areas cultivate a range of small millets such as Foxtail, Proso, Kodo and Barnyard,” explains Mr. Vatturi. Millets have the unique capacity to grow in only rain-fed conditions hence doing away with the need for expensive irrigation systems. If one kg of rice needs 4,000 litres of water, jowar grows on no water! They also have amazing nutritional values and are tasty too.
Cultivation of millets has obvious advantages. The second national consultation on millets held in 2009 brought out the Delhi Declaration on millets which said that India’s current agrarian crisis which would be compounded by the impending climate crisis could be effectively fought by the millet magic. They can grow in high heat, demand very little water and are an antidote to the malnutrition.
Rural poverty, malnutrition, farmer suicides and debts, loss of biodiversity and climate changes are only some of the realities that we are faced with today. The ease with which millets can be cultivated can provide food security to the poor and can also provide nutritional security. It basically provides six critical securities: food, fodder, health, nutrition, water and ecological.
Not needing to heavily depend on expensive irrigation systems and fertilizers can ease some of the pressure on farmers to have high yields and profits. And in turn they need not focus solely on cash crops and grow foods that are more resonant with their traditions and nutrition requirements. Some varieties of millets are also used as fodder for cattle which results in more natural manure and less dependence on chemical fertilizers that rob the soil of its value.
Mr. Vatturi says, “The vibrancy of millet based bio-diverse mixed farming systems that even now exist and are in full practice in many parts of the country, are true evidence to the advantages of millet food and farming in India. The famous Baranaja cropping systems in the Himalayas are a testimony to this. In this millet led system are embedded 12 different crop varieties. Saat Dhan in Rajasthan also is a host to a large variety of millets. The Pannendu Pantalu in Telengana region and the Navadhanya system in Karnataka of the South India, grow millets in combination with pulses and oilseeds, thus making it a holistic farming system.”
Going back to millets can also help reverse the ecological crisis that is fast escalating out of proportions. Rice needs standing water in the fields due to which methane gases, which contribute to the greenhouse effect and global warming, are produced. Wheat is thermal sensitive and would most likely disappear with an increase in temperatures.
Though such obvious advantages of growing millets are apparent, why are they given the step-motherly treatment that they suffer? Millets are not a part of the Public Distribution System which by supplying mainly rice at cheap prices has changed food habits of the rural poor. Millets have also been associated with poverty and thus deemed low quality of food.
It is also easier to get credit and crop loans from state institutions for commodity crops such as sugarcane and cotton grown as monocultures. And the biggest reality is that demand rules the market and the millet cultivators, to their dismay, find that there are hardly any takers for their product. But some people, especially in the urban areas, still remember the goodness of millets but find it difficult to procure them. Jhansi Perumalla, a student says, “My mother used to make jowar rotis when I was young. But she doesn’t make it now because she cannot get good quality jowar. The jowar flour that we can buy is not that good. So now she makes it on occasions like Sankranti when we get the flour from my village.”
In such a scenario, the advocacy and local level works of MINI plays a big role. As part of their endeavour to bring millets back into the food map, they aim to tackle the issue at local, national and policy making levels. MINI has asked the government to include millets in PDS. At the local levels, different NGOs and farmers groups are trying to help farmers regain the lost tradition of millet cultivation. Deccan Development Society, an NGO based in Pastapur, Medak district, for instance, runs a decentralised PDS system and a food bank belonging to millet farmers and also promotes distribution of natural seeds.
Advertising millets to gain mass appeal, processing it into attractive foods, popularizing recipes which use millets and conducting food festivals are some methods envisaged by MINI. DDS has established an organic millet restaurant called Cafe Ethnic in Zaheerabad town which specialises in millet food. Millets can also be slowly incorporated in government and welfare hostels, government offices and the like.
MINI hopes to make the government and policy makers realise that millet farming is not just the cultivation of a set of crops but is a profound concept deep rooted in the indigenous cultures, beliefs and distinct lifestyles, which together affirm life and diversity embedded in their knowledge systems. And as Mr. Vatturi likes to remind people, “The problem is with non recognition and valuing of these cropping systems, rather than lack of knowledge or culture.” If properly recognised, millets can be the unquestioned future of food and farming in India.
No comments:
Post a Comment