5 months ago
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Koppal Deputy Commissioner Suresh Itnal has called upon farmers successful the territory to springiness greater precedence to the cultivation of millets, noting that the demand, nutritional value, and marketplace terms of these crops person accrued importantly successful caller years. He was speaking aft flagging disconnected a millet consciousness march organised arsenic portion of the International Trade Fair–2026 connected the Sri Gavishiddeshwara Math premises successful Koppal connected Thursday.
Mr. Itnal said that Koppal, traditionally known arsenic the “rice bowl”, contributes astir 10% to Karnataka’s wide greenish output. However, farmers indispensable diversify beyond paddy and grow millet cultivation, helium said. “There was a clip erstwhile radical assumed that millets were consumed lone by the poor. Today, the prices of ragi, bajra, and jowar archer a antithetic story. Millets are affluent successful fibre and indispensable for bully health,” helium noted.
At present, millets are grown connected astir 6,000 hectares successful the district, and this country needs to beryllium substantially accrued on with greater promotion of integrated farming, helium added.
Referring to the PM-FME (Prime Minister Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises) scheme, Mr. Itnal said the programme was designed not lone to summation the country and productivity of jowar but besides to promote farmers to go palmy entrepreneurs by producing value-added products. With method grooming and a 50% superior subsidy disposable nether the scheme, farmers tin process jowar, undertake charismatic packaging and branding, and person agriculture into a profitable enterprise, helium said.
Joint Director of Agriculture G.D. Krishnamurthy said that the district-level millet just was being organised alongside the agriculture commercialized just to rise consciousness among farmers and the nationalist astir post-harvest processing, worth summation and income enhancement techniques.
Speaking connected the wellness benefits of millets, Brahma Kumaris person Yogini Akka urged radical to follow millet-based diets to enactment steadfast and trim dependence connected medicines. Gurushantaveer Shivacharya Mahaswamiji of Itagi Math said regular depletion of millets increases longevity and protects against life-threatening diseases, calling upon the nationalist to incorporated millet foods into their regular diet.
The lawsuit was attended by Koppal Zilla Panchayat CEO Varnit Negi, Deputy Director of Agriculture L. Siddeshwar, Agriculture Technology Centre caput Veeranna Kamatar, cultivation officers from each taluks, officials of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, district-level workplace instrumentality dealers, constabulary unit and different unit of the Agriculture Department..
