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A group of environmental organisations and NGOs from India and West Africa launched the Indo-African Millet Network at a side-meeting of the on-going UN conference on biological diversity.
The initiatives will aim at working with farmers groups across India and West Africa to boost production and demand of millets. These groups see millets as a bonding crop between India and Africa, especially because of nutritional values.
The groups are led by Millet Network of India, Deccan Development Society, Coalition to Protect African Genetic Heritage based in Benin, Organic Farming Association of India and Paryavarana Vikas Kendra of Gujarat.
National Convenor of Millet Network of India P.V. Satheesh said millet production in India has declined 50 per cent in the last two decades, primarily due to lack of incentives to farmers and adequate policy backing. “We have been seeking inclusion of millets in the Public Distribution System as one way to boost production,” he told media persons here.
The organisation has brought back about 5,000 acres under millet cultivation across eight States, including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan through farmers programmes.
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