Centre has no plan for establishing Millet Research and Development Centre in Odisha

The Central government has no immediate plan to establish a dedicated
Millet Research and Development Centre in Odisha though the Centre has
been consistently providing support to the State to promote value
addition and export of millet, the Union Minister of State for
agriculture and farmers’ welfare Bhagirath Choudhry informed the Rajya
Sabha on Friday.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), through the Indian
Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), Hyderabad, is providing
extensive support for millet research and development in Odisha to
promote value addition and export of millets, the Minister added.

Advertisement

Replying to a query by BJD Member Sulata Deo, the Minister further
stated that Small millets Research Centre is functional at Berhampur
under the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT) as part
of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Sorghum and
Small millets since 1989.

Under the National Food Security and Nutrition Mission (NFSNM), an
Enhanced Millets Breeders Seed Production Centre (2018) and a Millets
Seed Hub (2019) has been established at Berhampur to strengthen the
millet value chain in the state.

Besides, the ICAR is an active partner in ‘Odisha Millets Mission’ to
disseminate expertise on production, processing, and value addition to
local stakeholders.

The state government has undertaken the step to procure millets to
provide remunerative price to the farmers growing millets with
emphasis on the distribution of the procured produce through various
State Government schemes and supply to the Central Reserve of the
Central Government through the Food Corporation of India, said an
official State’s agriculture and farmers’ empowerment department.

The millet is being procured under the ‘Shree Anna Abhiyan’ scheme at
remunerative price to the farmers. The State Government is committed
to promote grains like millet in the face of climate change, added the
official.