By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 16 May: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar participated as the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony of the 4 day Uttarakhand Shri Anna Mahotsav 2023 organised by the State Agriculture Department to promote millets and millet products.
Managing Director of Patanjali, Acharya Bal Krishna, and Cabinet Minister Prem Chandra Agarwal were also present, while Agriculture Minister Ganesh Joshi chaired the function. On this occasion, all the guests present at the festival visited various stalls based on millets.
Agriculture Minister Ganesh Joshi welcomed and felicitated all the guests by offering them hill caps, shawls and bouquets.
Praising the Shri Anna Mahotsav organised by the Uttarakhand Government, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar appreciated Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami and Agriculture Minister Joshi for the initiative to promote millet cultivation in the state. Tomar asserted that Millets should get a respectable place on the food plate in India and those of the world. With this objective, the Government of India has notified the millets as nutritious grains. Campaigns to promote the cultivation and consumption of coarse grains are being run for the entire year. He reminded that, on the initiative taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UN declared 2023 as the year of millets. At a global conference held in the UN, Modi had presented the scientific evidence of nutritional value and health benefits of coarse grains like Jowar (Oats), Bajra (Pearl Millet), Kodo Millet, Mandua (Finger Millet) following which 72 countries supported the proposal to declare this year as the International Year of Millets. Expressing happiness that the Uttarakhand Government has taken a special initiative in organising this event with the aim to promote cultivation and consumption of millets, the Union Agriculture Minister said this Mahotsav will have increased public awareness on the millets. As more people become aware of the benefits, the demand for them will increase. He said that, if the demand for Shri Anna increases, the farmers will have to produce, and if the farmers produce, then they will also get good profits.
Tomar added that as India is taking the lead in Shri Anna, then the production will also increase in the country first. Productivity and processing will also increase. And when the processing will be done here, the export of our products to the whole world would also increase and the economy would get a boost.
Acharya Bal Krishna added that Shri Anna has been cultivated in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand since ancient times. Uttarakhand has been the capital of coarse grains. Today the world is understanding the importance of Shri Anna. He expressed confidence that this event would prove to be a milestone in the promotion of ‘Shri Anna’. Such events will not only encourage the cultivation of millets, but also provide necessary information related to millets to the farmers and increase their income.
State Agriculture Minister Ganesh Joshi said that Shri Anna is part of the traditional farming of Uttarakhand. It is so beneficial from the point of view of health that what used to be the food of the poor has now become an essential part of the plate of the rich. Special efforts are being made under the leadership of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami for the promotion of Shri Anna. Under the State Millet Mission, a provision of Rs 73 crores has been made in the budget. He also reiterated the department’s resolve to improve the economic condition of farmers by promoting crops like Madua, Jhingora, etc., in the hills.
Finance Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal, Secretary, Agriculture, BVRC Purushottam, Director, Agriculture, Gaurishankar, Additional Director KC Pathak, Joint Director Dinesh Kumar, MD of Organic Products Council Vinay Kumar and many senior officials from all the districts were among those present, besides the farmers from all across the state. Today was the concluding day of the four day event.
