The department has initiated cultivation of multiple varieties of millets, including Finger Millets, Fox tail millets, Little Millets, BarnYard Millets besides growing Kodo Millets over an area of 20 Kanal in the seed Multiplication Farm Kawa.
The move aims to sensitize the farming community about the importance of millets owing to its high nutritive value, said Chief Agriculture Officer Dr. Sanjay Anand. “The objective of introducing its cultivation is to popularize the millets among the farmers by distributing the seed in coming seasons after getting its production from the Farm,” he said.
He said “Millets were the staple food of our ancestors which kept them hale & hearty but its usage declined with the passage of time thus depriving us of its nutritious wealth. Further with the alarming signs of water shortage, land unavailability for cultivation & increasing heat due to global warming- millets as cereal grains with high protein, fiber and antioxidants provides a fantastic opportunity to a populated country like India.”
Area Development Officer (Veg) Dr. Ashwani Jojra and Dr Sukhbir Singh, District Subject Matter Specialist (SMS-DL) are carrying out the Millet cultivation on mission mode to sensitize the field functionaries to take the cultivation to village level in District Udhampur.
