Caritas India has taken the initiative to promote millet at the KADAN UTSAV (Millet Conclave) on April 4, 2023, in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. The event coincided with the International Year of Millets 2023 and served to discuss the sustainable production of millets and bring multistakeholder collaboration and extension services for mainstreaming in local food systems.
The event was organised in collaboration with Caritas Austria and Manav Vikas Seva Sanstha (MVSS) and attended by eminent scientists, academics, political leaders, representatives of civil society, and more than 600 smallholder farmers from Madhya Pradesh.

Narrating a success story from Kerala, Fr. (Dr.) Paul Moonjely, Executive Director of Caritas India, shared how a poor and marginalised family transformed their lives after adopting an integrated farming system supported by Caritas India. The story of the Caritas India SAFBIN programme in Madhya Pradesh is similar in that it has changed the lives of people in the last 10 years.

He informed that program people from Northeast India have come to meet and learn from SAFBIN because the farmers here have become scientists. He said, we want to continue this journey and be with the farmers of this region. He congratulated the leadership for making this a model for the government. He wished to continue this work in more villages, to increase the food basket and bring food and nutrition security to create a better future and prosperity for next generations.

“The economic situation of the village was not good, we were used to chemical farming, which affected both our and soil health,” shared Santosh Yadav, a progressive farmer from Ratan Pura in Shahgarh. He shared how the SAFBIN programme supported him by motivating him towards organic farming. He also mentioned how he made a profit of Rs. 1,20,000 by selling 6 quintals of seed that he produced after getting the 2 kg of seeds from SAFBIN. He also shared how he turned his barren, rocky land profitable by planting teak trees, which also became an additional source of income.

As part of the celebration in Sagar, two books on community-led food and nutrition model and the smallholder-led value chain model were released to mark the event.

Bishop James Athikalam of Sagar Diocese appreciated Caritas India and MVSS for working on the empowerment of the farmers. He expressed his deep sentiments about entering the third phase of SAFBIN. He congratulated all the stakeholders, especially the farmers, for their active participation in this programme.

Dr. Ashok Patra, the emeritus scientist from the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), said in his message that our country is an agriculture dominating country with 70% of its people dependent on agriculture. After the green revolution, the production of wheat, rice, and maize increased, but gradually the challenge of limited agricultural fields and an increasing population posed a constant threat to our food security. He said this situation could only be saved through integrated farming. Sharing his thoughts on soil health, he said every creation starts from soil and ends at soil. Whatever lacks in soil is transferred to our food and finally to our body. We are all sons of soil, and since the soil is diseased, it is our responsibility to work towards saving its health.

Sharing about the importance of indigenous knowledge, Dr. Diwakar Singh Rajput, Head Department of Sociology and Social Work at Dr. Hari Singh Gaur Vishwavidyalaya, said, “Today doctors also prescribe eating bajra, which helps in digestion, and kodo kutki to build immunity, Why do we need all this?” He added, If you see, we are drawn close to our nature. The effort at the national and international levels to promote millet is to appreciate our indigenous knowledge, which should be explored and promoted. He insisted on having celebrations like this to bring awareness to our traditional knowledge, and practises.

“Unprecedented rainfall and temperature are a critical challenge in this area. Normally we have 1250 mm of rainfall, and last year it was 1700 mm,” informed Dr. S.K. Yadav, Principal Scientist from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK). He shared that we need to sensitise people about bringing change to agriculture, especially in the vegetable industry. Sharing about the importance of millet, he said, this superfood can be cultivated even with low water and low maintenance, and above all, it’s natural. He emphasised integrating millet in anganwadis and schools.

Dr. Narendra Kumar Lenka, Principal Scientist of the Indian Institute of Soil Sciences, emphasised the role of soil health and water availability in agriculture. He said that over the years, the soil’s nutritive value has reduced. Earlier farmers used to get 50 kg of produce from 1 kg of seeds, but now the yield is reduced to 7-8 kg. He said millet is very nutritious for children and women. He suggested having value-added millet to promote it among the masses.

Pran Ranjan, Senior Agriculture Advisor at SUATI, shared about the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF), a scheme to motivate farmers to adopt chemical farming and enhance the reach of natural farming. He informed me that, till now, 13000 farmers have registered under this scheme. These registered farmers will be given preference and receive direct benefits.

Mr. Pappu Tiwari, Vice President of Shiv Sena, Madhya Pradesh, raised a query: When 70% of people are farmers, then why are we not owners of our land, why are we not resilient? He appreciated Odisha’s self-reliant model and the support given by the local administration to their farmers. He also shared the underlying reality of farmers not getting their due compensation or produce. He insisted farmers be part of programmes like this to learn and promote. I want to see my farmers empowered and resilient. We need to learn the technique to produce ten times as much as we currently do.

Thomas Preindl, representing Caritas Austria, shared the organisational commitment to working with poor and small-scale farmers for food and nutritional security. He emphasised that a good, diversified diet is the key to human health and development. He shared that the SAFBIN programme was successful because of the interest, commitment, and willingness of farmers to learn and share the best practises with each other. He also appreciated the multistakeholder partnership, which helps make a better agriculture system.

The event also featured stalls from different programmes to highlight their achievements and products. The overall celebration concluded with high aspirations to promote and cultivate millet in the coming days.