Millets on Menu Across Karnataka Indira Canteens

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said to  initiate steps to introduce millets in public distribution system, in anganwadis, mid-day meals schemes for students and also in dishes of Indira Canteens (where economy meals are served) in coming days and assured to hold a meeting on introduction of millets with officials concerned of education, agriculture, municipalities, food and civil supplies and rural development.

The purpose of introducing millets, the Chief Minister said, is to make people especially children and women derive health benefits from millets which are loaded with nutrition.

The Chief Minister at the inaugural function of Millets and Organic International Trade Fair-2024 organised by department of agriculture at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru city, assured to create an conducive atmosphere for farmers to grow millets and stated that millets can be grown in low rainfall areas.

In the country, he said, 12 States are feeling under severe drought including 223 taluks out of 236 in Karnataka and asked the agriculture scientists to come out with low rainfall, low water consuming crops to benefit farmers and also asked scientists to develop new varieties and take “labs to lands” to make farming sustainable.

Though the country has attained self-sufficiency in food grains, Siddaramaiah still the onus of feeding 140 crore population is on both Central and State Governments. When the “green revolution” took place in the country, the chemical fertilisers gained importance to increase yields but now the shift is towards organic farming.

Asking Vice-Chancellors of various agriculture varsities, Siddaramaiah to develop new varieties of crops to suit climatic conditions so that farmers can get benefits and stated that 60 percent of population still dependent on agriculture and the number has come down from 80 percent to present 60 percent owing to urbanisation.

He observed that the population depending on agriculture might come down in coming years and wanted research to be done on growing multiple crops to make farming sustainable for farmers.

In order to encourage organic farming, he said Karnataka came up with Organic Agriculture Policy-2004 and later Revised Organic Agriculture Policy-2014 thereby laid emphasis on organic millets and many scientists have opined that organic millets are good for health.