Dr. Khader Vali, a recipient of the Padma Shri, also known as the Millet Man of India, a pioneering Indian organic farmer and environmentalist is known for his innovative and sustainable agricultural practices for more than three decades. He hailed from Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh, India, and dedicated his life to promoting organic farming and preserving traditional agricultural wisdom.
Despite spending more than three decades in the world of millets, Dr. Vali told The Hindu that his journey and interest is millets started as early as the age of six, “Way back, when I was six-years old, when I was in Andhra Pradesh, I visited my grandmother’s place in Anantapur district and that is when I consumed millets for the first time, until then I was eating rice as everybody else. The very next day I realised that my stools were very comfortable. Soon after that I started eating millets and avoided rice as much as possible”.
