Experts dwell on benefits of millets
Solan, January 19
Nek Ram Sharma, who has earned the sobriquet of being the ‘Millet man of Himachal’, today said the ‘International Year of Millets’ had brought the focus on millets to the forefront.
He dwelt upon the various health benefits of millets while addressing the teachers of Vidya Bharati during a daylong exposure visit to the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni.
Vice Chancellor Prof Rajeshwar Singh Chandel said the university had chalked out an activity calendar for the promotion of millets in the state as these crops were essential for the food security of the world.
He said the university had decided to include one millet-based dish in its programmes to increase awareness about the crop. He urged the participants to grow these crops in their fields and encourage farmers involved in the millet production by buying their produce for personal consumption.
Earlier, Dr Inder Dev, Director, Extension Education, said millets constituted over 20 per cent of the food before 1970, but it had been reduced to only 6 per cent today.
Ashish Gupta, a sustainable food systems expert, talked about the environmental impact of growing millets and how these could be grown without much input even in harsh conditions.
Over 120 teachers from different Vidya Bharati schools across the state and farmers from Uttarkashi, statutory officers and faculty of the university attended the event.
