Rediscovering nutritious and sustainable food

Minna Zutshi

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 19

A narrative that revolves around heritage, health, sustainability, ecology and nutrition is bound to be multi-layered and thought provoking. Especially, when a traditional food item that has long been forgotten and yet hold the key to several agricultural and ecological problems.

Millet that has been an intrinsic part of folklore and folk songs of Punjab is now a part of many serious discussions on agro-ecology.

“Millet Utsav”, being organised by the Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM) at Chandigarh is a tribute to these desi grains. Farmers and environmentalists from Ludhiana have been attending the three-day festival which concludes on January 20.

On the first two days, the highlights of the fest included cookery and kitchen garden workshops. Other attractions were the display of rich diversity of millets, besides expert talks on different agro-ecological themes.

According to experts, millet cultivation is one of the suitable solutions to the agro-ecological and health crisis of Punjab. The state has lost its biodiversity and millets can help in enhancing biodiversity. Introducing millets would increase crop diversification and this can play a major role in breaking monoculture of wheat and rice.

“Millets are ecologically sound as they save water. They are good alternative to paddy since they grow in the same season,” says Umendra Dutt, Executive Director, KVM.

The Millet Utsav concludes on Sunday, with a dialogue on “Millets in contemporary food”, apart from talks on “Economics of organics” and “Magic of millets” by noted chef Ram Babu.