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R&D in all areas necessary to strengthen millet value chain: Official

Updated: Mar 20, 2023 05:07:37pm
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R&D in all areas necessary to strengthen millet value chain: Official

New Delhi, Mar 20 (KNN) India needs to carry out research and development (R&D) in all areas of the millet value chain and bring together the knowledge of production, processing and storage and make it available to the consumer", said Vijaya Lakshmi Nadendla, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture on Sunday.

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Addressing the Plenary Session on 'Strengthening Millet Value Chain with Collaborative Approach', organised by FICCI at the Global Millets Conference, She said, “Improved varieties, better shelf life, efficient processing and access to markets are all vital to strengthen the millet value chain.”

Jitendra Joshi, Chairman, FICCI Task Force on Millets & Director Seeds, South Asia from Corteva Agriscience, said, "Millets are nutritionally rich, easy to cultivate and sustainable farmer-friendly crop with no environmental impact. As the PM perfectly narrated that millets are a solution for personal health and global health.”

The government is propagating millets cultivation and increasing demand, it is expected that more women will get engaged in the cultivation of millets, thereby leading to a need for skilling and capacity building, Nadendla said at another session at the conference.

She said the government is exclusively promoting 100 per cent Women FPOs and issued a guideline for the inclusion of one woman on the Board of Directors of each FPO.

On the occasion, ITC Ltd Group Head (Agri & IT Businesses) Sivakumar S emphasised synchronisation of the millets value chain as a critical requirement for scaling millets, an official release said.

In this regard, "Millets stakeholder partnerships are vital to creating such synchronisation", he said.

Manoj Juneja, Deputy Executive Director and CFO, World Food Programme (WFP), underlined that millet is crucial for food and nutritional security, promoting biodiversity and empowering farmers. "It's high time we revive the brand of millets and foster resilient food systems," he said.

Just Organik Founder and Managing Director Pankaj Agarwal called for "collaborative participation from all the stakeholders, starting from seed companies to farmers and chefs to markets and finally the consumers themselves".  (KNN Bureau)

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