Millets are highly nutritious food crops which are hardy and are resilient to climate changes. Ironically, over the years, the area under these crops is declining owing to undue focus on mono-cropping systems and high-input agriculture. Tribal communities in Kandhamal have broken the barrier of mono-cropping by reverting to millet based bio-diverse cropping systems. They are now practicing farming which is more resilient and eco-friendly, producing greater quantities of more diverse and more nutritious food.
First Published in Leisa India, March 2014
Towards Reviving Millets-based Bio-diverse Farming system for Food Sovereignty, a case-study on this subject by Anitha Reddy, appears on page 14 of the newsletter People in Conservation, Volume 5 Issue 2 (April – October 2013), published by Kalpavriksh
Further reading:
Reviving crop biodiversity, restoring food sovereignty – Nirman’s work on food sovereignty with the Kondh adivasi community of Odisha, which has a rich knowledge and experience of millets-based, mixed farming systems. By reviving the community based seed banks and cultural seed festivals, these tribal communities have regained their lost food diversity and sovereignty. (checked on 12 May 2017)