Millet farming is an alternative livelihood option for rural farmers of Odisha. Millets have highly nutritional values and its cultivation needs very less water and soil nutrients compared to other cereals and are resilient to climate changes.
About 80 farmers from Kandhamal, Rayagada, Gajapati, Deogarh, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Nayagarh districts opined this at a workshop organised by jointly by NIRMAN and MINI here on Thursday. They said millet crops are also growing in hill and high land areas.
“Increasing numbers of farmers are showing interest to grow millets. The need market support and ‘logical’ prices. Millets are the best farming alternative when there is impact of climate change,” said Prof Radhamohan.
Several organisations like NIRMAN have been determinedly working to revive and promote millet crops as cash crops once again in the rural pockets of Odisha.
“We are all protecting our own livelihood and are living on our own conditions. By now we have realised millets farming is preferable to paddy cultivation,” said Tami Mallick, a farmer of Gajapati district.\
Rural farmers grow 85 different types of millet crops of which Sorghum, Foxtail, Kodo, Proso, Barnyard, little and Pearl are very nutritious. .
“Farmer need not to use any pesticides or other chemicals. Millet crops are completely natural and it takes about three months or hundred days for them to grow,” said OUAT Prof Balaram Sahoo.
Soil expert Surendra Pashupalak said the soil in south-west Odisha is very suitable for millets.
“There is a lot of demand of millet crops now as people have realised that it’s extremely nutritious and beneficial for health,” said Prashant Mohanty, one of the organiser.