Women urged to help bring millets back to the food plate

Padma Shri and Millet man of Himachal Nek Ram Sharma urged students and women to play a leading role in bringing millets back to the food plates. He was speaking at the Women's Day celebrations and Women Farmer-Scientist and Student interaction on Shri Ann at the Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni.

The Padma Shri awardee was of the view that the consumption of unhealthy food and chemical-based farming has had a big impact on human health and women have faced the biggest brunt. He said as it is the women who play the leading role in keeping their families healthy through managing their diets, therefore it was important they are sensitized about millets and its several health benefits. Elaborating on the health benefits of Shri Ann, as millets are referred to, Nek Ram said that the Indian saints and village folk were aware of these superfoods and therefore they grew and consumed up to 18 types of cereals throughout the year.

Earlier, Radha Devi, a women motivator and Chairperson of Himachal’s first all-women natural farming-based Farmer Producer Company (FPC) shared her story and journey of establishing an all-women FPC. She talked about the benefits of natural farming and how the FPC was working towards women's empowerment through agribusiness.

Addressing the gathering, Vice Chancellor Prof Rajeshwar Singh Chandel said that the university recognizes the major role played by women in different fields, especially agriculture. He said though International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8, the lives and success of women must be celebrated every day and not limited to only a particular day. He read out examples of successful women from Himachal in different fields including sports and acting and also cited the example of the makers of ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ which won the Academy Award for Best Short Documentary.

The students also presented songs and poems to celebrate the lives and the sacrifices of women. The awards for the Shri Ann poster competition which was kicked off on Women's Day on the importance of women in agriculture and promoting millets were also given on the occasion. The first prize was won by Kritika and Krishna. The second prize was bagged by Neha and Nivedita while Muskaan and Aastha won the third prize. The first and second consolation prize from the College of Horticulture was won by Sholk and Swadha Sood respectively and Varnika and Nitika Rana from the College of Forestry. The event was supported by the ICAR NAHEP’s Institutional Development Project.