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Madhya Pradesh State Millet Mission Scheme is implemented by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan along with a committee of ministers. The Director of Farmers' Welfare and Agriculture Development will carry out the program in each district. The program will run for two years (2023–2024 and 2024–2025) and spend Rs 23.25 crore during these two years. Farmers will be given certified millet seeds with an 80 percent subsidy from cooperative/government organizations. The Agriculture Production Commissioner will establish and lead a state-level committee to supervise the program.
Farmers' training programs and study abroad trips will help boost the growing, processing, and marketing of millet crops. To promote millet, fairs, workshops, seminars, food festivals, and roadshows will be held at the district and state levels. It is interesting to note that the state's dietary culture once revolved around millet grain crops. It is currently vital to promote these crops due to their nutritional value. These plants are frequently grown in less productive regions. Due to growing consumer health consciousness, millet crops are currently in higher demand.
Benefits
Health-wise, crops like Kodo, Kutki, Ragi, and Sava are particularly advantageous. These millet crops have been given the status of nutritious grains in recognition of their significance. These crops produce grains high in iron, calcium, fiber, etc. Additionally, the crops have a lower percentage of fat than other foods, safe for diabetics and people with heart disease to consume. Therefore, it is essential to promote the cuisines made from millet crops and the cultivation of millet crops among farmers. In Madhya Pradesh, numerous opportunities exist for land extension, productivity boosts, and increased Kodo-Kutki, Jowar, and Ragi production.
Given the expanding market for millet crops, there is also a very high chance of value addition. One millet dish will be offered in government programs where food is provided. Millets will be used in the hostels, and midday meals will be served once each week.
The quantity of the specified agricultural product, such as wheat purchased according to the payment slip, will be eligible to reimburse mandi costs. On notified agricultural commodities that traders from other nation states buy and sell for profit, mandi fees would not be paid. It will be necessary to apply for reimbursement of mandi costs. The Mandi Board's budget allocation under the heading of "Agricultural Produce Export Promotion" will cover the cost of the mandi fee reimbursement—approval for transgender people to be included in the list of underprivileged groups. The Cabinet approved transgender people in the list of the backward classes in Madhya Pradesh as serial number 94, after serial number 93.
Other projects
The Dungaria Micro Irrigation Project in Ujjain has received administrative approval. The Council of Ministers gave administrative permission for the 3,000-hectare Dungaria Micro Irrigation Project, which cost Rs 104.74 crore. Eight villages in the Mahidpur development block of Ujjain will receive irrigation facilities through the project's micro irrigation approach—the Tiktoli Distributary Project's revised administrative approval. The Tiktoli Distributary (fed by the Harsi high-level central canal) Project, costing Rs. 44.90 crores, with a total irrigated area of 3,700 hectares, has received revised administrative permission from the Cabinet. The project would provide irrigation amenities to farmers in 27 villages in the Gwalior district.
The Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), of the Government of India, will purchase moong and urad from registered farmers during the summer of 2021–22 (the marketing year 2022-23), according to a decision made by the Council of Ministers.
Keep reading
- MP’s Tribal woman, Lahari Bai, becomes India’s brand ambassador for millets
- What is Mission LiFE, How it makes fight against climate change democratic?
- 242 days of extreme weather, Madhya Pradesh worst affected
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