Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Samba, under the leadership of Prof. B. N. Tripathi, Vice Chancellor, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Jammu, in collaboration with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Vijaypur and also under the mandates of ICAR-ATARI, Zone-1 organised a one day regional seminar on promotion of millet crops here at Panchayat Samlah of the district. The team was led by Dr. Sanjay Khajuria.
At the outset, Prof. Sanjay Khajuria, Chief Scientist & Head welcomed the participants and apprised them about the activities of the KVK Samba. He gave a brief introduction on the importance of millet crops like pearl millet, kodo millet, finger millet, foxtail millet in our regular daily diet and their role in maintaining the soil fertility and health.
Further, he emphasized upon the advantages of growing millet crops in kandi belt of Samba district and their appropriateness in rain-fed areas of the district. He apprised the farming community about the health benefits of these crops and their demand thereof. As the country is celebrating 2023 as “International Year of Millets”, so the efforts of the KVK to promote the farming of the millets are implicit.
A team of experts from AIIMS, Vijaypur also delivered expert lectures during the seminar. Dr. S. Banerjee exhorted the farmers and farmwomen to include the millets in their diet, as these are the rich source of minerals and vitamins.
Dr. Neha also emphasized upon the utilization of the millets as value added products along with regular diet. Dr. Ganju elaborated upon the fortification of the diet of the children and nursing mothers by adding millets in their diets.
Earlier, Dr. Saurav Gupta, Scientist (Entomology) presented an expert lecture on the insect, pest management of the millet crops. He further emphasized upon the characteristics of millet crops to grow in the water deficit areas. Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Scientist (Animal Sciences), delivered an expert lecture and exhorted the farming community to introduce the millet crop residues in the animal ration.
Dr. Amit Mahajan urged the farmers to bring maximum area under the millet cultivation to fulfill the ever rising demand of the consumers.Pritam Chand, Sarpanch presented the vote of thanks and appreciated the efforts of the KVK to bring latest technologies to the farmers’ field. More than 100 front line demonstrations on millets were distributed at Panchayat Samlah. The programme was attended by more than hundred farmers from the Panchayat Samlah.