The State government has inked an MoU with the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), an Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institute, for developing Kerala’s fledgling millet sector.
Agriculture director K.S. Anju and Dayakar Rao B., Principal Scientist, IIMR, signed the MoU in the presence of Agriculture Minister P. Prasad at Aluva on Friday.
Through this collaboration, the department hopes to improve processing, value addition, marketing and branding in this sector.
Popularising millets and their farming is a major component of the ‘Poshaka Samridhidhi Mission’ announced by the State government in August this year. The mission aims to increase the production of millets and vegetables in the State.
‘Millet cafes and nutrition plate’
‘Millet Cafes’ would be started in the State as part of this initiative, the department said. The department would also join hands with national-level institutions to prepare a ‘nutrition plate’ as part of the mission’s activities.
Under the Mission, the government plans to increase the annual production of millets to 3,000 tonnes and open six new processing units. At present, the State has only one unit, at Attappady.
