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Odisha Millets Mission in Sundargarh:“Special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas of Odisha” (Odisha Millets Mission), a flagship programme supported by Department of Agriculture & Food Production, (Govt of Odisha) to promote millets was launched in Sundargarh district in the year 2018-19. The programme initially covered 4 blocks, that is, Nuagaon, Kuarmunda, Rajgangpur and Kutra, which was gradually extended to another 4 blocks (Lephripada, Hemgir, Tangarpali & Balisankara) with financial assistance from District Mineral Foundation, Sundargarh.
The programme covers all aspects of millet ecosystem that includes production, consumption, processing, marketing and inclusion of millets in State Nutrition Programmes.
The objectives of the programme:
- Improving the productivity of Millet crops to secure household level surplus.
- Setting up of decentralized processing facilities for easy access to processed millets.
- Promoting Household-level consumption to increase food and nutrition security.
- Promoting farmer collectives and marketing to further the millet economy with a focus on women entrepreneurs.
- Inclusion of millets in the State Nutrition Programme and Public Distribution System.
The success of Odisha Millets Mission owes to its unique design of programme delivery involving various stakeholders like Government agencies, Civil Society Organisations, Community Based Organisations and Academic institutions. In Sundargarh, 8 Community Based Organisations have been implementing the programme with the support of 6 Facilitating NGOs.
The Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA), Sundargarh acts as the nodal organisation for implementation of the programme at the district level. The State Secretariat for Odisha Millets Mission is hosted at Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies (NCDS), a social science research institute situated at Bhubaneswar. The State Secretariat comprises of Programme Secretariat and Research Secretariat anchored by WASSAN and NCDS respectively.
