Bhopal: In a move to promote millet crop cultivation in Madhya Pradesh, chief minister Mohan Yadav on Saturday ordered the authorities concerned to include millets in the public distribution system (PDS) in the state.
Mr Yadav ordered the state food, civil supply and consumer protection department to initiate steps to include millets such as jowar (finger millet) and ragi (sorghum), produced locally, in the PDS.
He suggested sourcing these cereals and grains from local farmers and involving self-help groups in the process.
Sources in the food and civil supplies department however find it an uphill task to include millets in the PDS owing to low production of the crops in the state.
Millet crops are primarily produced by the indigenous communities in the country.
They can be produced in the rain-fed and arid zones and hence, the millets are billed as the future food due to the global climate change.
Despite indigenous communities making up over one-fifth of the population in Madhya Pradesh, the state ranks fifth in production of millets after Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Madhya Pradesh produces around 7,480 tonnes of millets every year.
Commercial production of millets is yet to take off on a big scale in the state.
Millets are produced in eight districts in the state which have a sizable tribal population.
The millet producing districts in MP are Balaghat, Chhindwara, Jabalpur,Katni, Mandla, Dindori, Narsinghpur and Seoni.
The tribal-dominated district of Dindori is the largest producer of millets in the state with 2,150 tonnes.
The state-run Jawaharlal Nehru Agriculture University in Jabalpur has set up a millet research Centre in Dindori to conduct studies on millet crops to increase their productivity.
