Millet Festival commemorated in West Garo Hills

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaApril 7, 2023

North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society together with its partner communities from Garo Hills, celebrated Aman A•song (Mother Earth) Millet Festival cum Agroecology Learning Circle (ALC) sharing at Hotel Polo Orchid, Tura on Wednesday.

Speaking as Chief Guest Sub-Divisional Officer Civil, Rongram Block Abhishek Gowda Abhishek Gowda said millet is rich in nutrients such as iron, fibre, and calcium which is good for health. There is a need to promote the intergenerational transfer of knowledge about millets and their different varieties.

Rimchi N Marak, Senior Associate of Garo Hills and Nutrition also spoke on the occasion.

Various representatives and officials from different government departments- College of Community Science, Meghalaya Basin Development Agency, Mission Organic Value Chain Development for Northeast Region (MOVCDNER), ATMA, custodian farmers from partner villages, Nokmas from non-project villages, and many other community members attended the program.

The United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millet. “Empowering Indigenous Communities through Agroecology Learning Circles (ALCs) for resilient, integrated and innovative natural resource management”, which is supported by MBMA and funded by the World Bank” have undertaken experiments on soil, pest and production management, with the use of traditional knowledge and practices.

Awards were also presented to three of the best Community Facilitators (CF), and the best ALC group, which was bagged by Adingma ALC group from Misimagre community in West Garo Hills.

The programme concluded with the inauguration of stalls, put by various partner communities, wherein they displayed different food products, and beverages made from locally available fruits, wild edibles, millet varieties, local seeds, handicrafts etc.