Agriculture department organizes meeting on ‘Millets for all’ in Kokrajhar

KOKRAJHAR: The department of Agriculture on Thursday organized a meeting on millets in Kokrajhar to bring awareness on it. Millets, a food grain which is gaining special popularity these days due to its rich nutrient content. Millets are rich in antioxidants, iron, calcium and zinc. It has also low level of glycine index and easily digestible.

According to various research, millet is gluten free and helps fighting against life threatening disease like cancer, diabetes and heart diseases. It should be noted that to create domestic and global demand of millet and to provide nutritional food to the people, Government of India proposed the United Nation to declare 2023 as ‘International Year of Millet’. And after the proposal, UN declared 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millet’. Now Central Government is taking different approach to raise awareness about millets.

Along with the Central government, awareness meetings about millets have also started in different parts of Assam. The department of Agriculture has taken initiatives to create awareness about millets under Assam Millet Mission with the theme ‘Millets for school children in Assam’.

An awareness meeting regarding millet was held on Thursday at Gourang High School, Haltugaon Tiniali under Titaguri Agricultural Development Block of Kokrajhar district. District Agriculture Officer Burlung Buthur Narzary, Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officer cum District Agriculture Information Officer Manindra Narayan Das and Assistant Director of Agriculture Diganta Thapa broadly explained about millet, its types and its nutritional value.

As government is taking steps to include millet in Midday meal, teachers were also given instruction on the process of cooking millets through an example by serving millet food (halwa) prepared by Bodoland Agro Organic Farmers Producer Company among the teachers and students. This initiative is part of the Assam Millets Mission, which was launched in 2022 and will continue until 2029, spanning a period of seven years. The Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, inaugurated the mission on November 16, 2022. The mission aims to improve nutrition, increase farmers’ income, enhance productivity, and promote crop diversification.

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