Millets has been a part of daily diet in several regions in India. They were a part of biodiverse traditional cropping systems meeting the requirements of food, nutrition and fodder, contributing to sustainable food production till modernization and commercialization took over agriculture.
With food production dwindling with climate change effects, health issues arising out of lack of balanced diets, inappropriate food habits and lifestyles, wide prevalence of malnutrition, we are once again looking back at millets as ‘climate resilient crops’ and ‘health foods’ – the most viable and reliable solution for the problems being faced. On one hand, we see a lot of initiatives both at the individual as well as the community level, promoting millet production. On the other, there are fears that if millets are promoted on commercial lines, it could lead us nowhere. In this issue of LEISA India, we bring out some experiences, perspectives and challenges in promoting millet farming systems.
6 Millet based mixed farming – Coping with weather extremities
Krushna Chandra Sahu
10 Intensification of finger millet production – An agroecological innovation
Luna Panda and Muralidhar Adhikari
14 System of Crop Intensification – Promoting a profitable crop sequence of finger millet and chickpea
Nitin Kumbhar, Ananda Wani, Sameer Raskar and Prithviraj Gaikwad
18 Millets and Markets – Need for networking and integration
E D Israel Oliver King, Stefano Padulosi and Gennifer Meldrum
22 Reviving millets, reconnecting to cultures
Aman Singh and Pratibha Sisodia
26 From coarse grains to health foods – Time to introspect
Debjeet Sarangi and Kavya Chowdhry
28 Return of the forgotten crop – Brown top millet
Anitha Reddy and Krishna Prasad G
34 Meet the Millet Man
Amit Chakravarty
