In 2004, the Green Foundation launched a major campaign to promote the use of foxtail millet in the region, citing the high nutrient value of the crop. The campaign began with a single farmer. Shantamma was distressed that her village of Kanavemadhapura, situated in the hilly regions of Anekal Taluk, Bangalore Rural District, had stopped cultivating navane. She recalled that navane had served as emergency food during shortages and was extremely valuable in times of drought. Foxtail millet is a short duration crop and very resistant to pests, disease and drought. Rich in iron and calcium, it provides a nutritious food for people and valuable fodder for animals. The grain is ground into flour or cooked and eaten like rice or in puddings. Navane is considered to be an ideal food for people suffering from diabetes and gastric problems. In the Himalayas, it is used to treat chickenpox.
Determined to revive the valuable food security crop, Shantamma communicated her concern to the Green Foundation, which agreed to help. People from nearby villages pitched in and eventually a handful of seeds were collected from a farmer’s field. With the help of the Green Foundation’s research team, the Self-Help Group, a women’s organization that includes Shantamma among its members, prepared a small demonstration plot for the millets.
Shantamma’s enthusiasm and the Green Foundation’s efforts to promote foxtail millet paid off as neighbouring farmers began to wake up to the crop’s value. Today, navane is grown widely and marketed throughout the district. A series of community genebanks have been established to ensure that foxtail millet will be around to help people through hard times for years to come.
References
Article by Vanaja Ramprasad, Green Foundation
Wonderful, information rich site. We in Malaysia import many grains from India. The only millet we get at present is Ragi but few know the true nutritional value of millet. Congratulations on your efforts!
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Great site on Millets. Millets recipes are very few even on the web. The same recipes made with rice are given a slight twist and are being circulated. Please try and find some specific recipes which are made with millets (probably from the farmers and their families) and of course post them here. Tamilnadu Agricultural University is conducting a 1 day workshop on cooking with millets. It is a useful one. cost is Rs 400 and that includes the lunch, refreshments and all the preparations are shared as well. It is worth attending the workshop. I did.
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TVS Priya Nice suggestion, it would be nice to get more recipes.
Probably many of the dishes we are making with rice were earlier made with millets as well. As Dinesh says, we don’t eat the same vegetable very day, why the same grain? Nothing wrong with substituting foxtail millet or any other millet in a dish that we usually make with rice. For example here is a recipe for korra pulihara: http://askamma.wordpress.com/2014/07/03/korra-pulihara/
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Very useful site, we have to promote the minor millets
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Its very informative site, water consumtion for this millets is very low.we are in krishnagiri district tamil nadu , we were facing very high water scarcity.minor millets only helping us to do farming
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You can get all cultivating seeds in agricultural university kovai tn in may
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We also interested in organic farming.kindly forward millets farming methods
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The site is great one. Now a days i’m visiting farmers involved in organic/sustainable farming. Recently i got kodo, kutiki and mandya millets in Gadchiroli district of maharashtra. I wanted some information about it and i got here a treasure. Thank You.
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Where can I get Foxtail Millet in Mumbai ?
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Hi,
I wanted to get some foxtail millet seed for cultivating in Palakkad, Kerala. Also would like to characteristics of this foxtail millet – in terms of height, duration, their ability to compete with grass…
My email ID – p_k_nandanan@yahoo.com
Regards,
Nandan
080-89639261
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This is very useful and informative web. Thank you for your efforts.
Keep posting & Expand your web site
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i’m concerned that if there is an increase in demand for millets, the price of millets will go so high that it will become unaffordable to those who even grow them (village people especially). i have seen shop owners charging such a high price for millet, way higher than rice, it makes it difficult for one to consider eating it for daily meals.
the same thing happened with quinoa, the price went so high after urban populations started seeing it as a health food, that i doubt local native indians of latin america are able to afford eating it. it has also caused disputes among quinoa farmers over quinoa growing land, straining of natural resources to grow the quinoa, hence causing soil erosion.
the point is there is always a threat of greed even among farmers when something turns into a fad. as mentioned millets might not become accessible to those in the communities that grow it, so please learn from this quinoa problem to prevent this.
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on restore’s website they write about the organizations they work with. they say “They are all sensitive to promoting local consumption of organic and healthful food by the farmers, and not just blindly support growing for the urban markets alone.”
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