Minor Millets in South Asia Learnings from IFAD-NUS Project in India and Nepal Bhag Mal1, S. Padulosi2 and S. Bala Ravi3, editors 1 Bioversity International, Sub-regional Office for South Asia, NASC Complex, Pusa Campus, New Delhi 110 012, India 2 Bioversity International, Via dei Tre Denari, 472/a, 00057 Maccarese, Rome, Italy 3 M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Third Cross Street, Taramani Institutional Area, Chennai 600 113, India December, 2010 Citation Bhag Mal, S. Padulosi and S. Bala Ravi, editors. 2010. Minor Millets in South Asia: Learnings from IFAD-NUS Project in India and Nepal. Bioversity International, Maccarese, Rome, Italy and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India. 185 p. Published by Bioversity International, Via dei Tre Denari 472/a, 00057 Maccarese, Rome, Italy. M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Third Cross Street, Taramani Institutional Area, Chennai 600113, India. ISBN – 978-92-9043-863-2 © 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Bioversity International and M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. Photographs by S. Padulosi, Bioversity International, Maccarese, Rome, Italy, and S. Bala Ravi, MSSRF, Chennai, India. Printed at Malhotra Publishing House, B-6 DSIDC Complex, Kirti Nagar, New Delhi 110015, India. CONTENTS iii Contents Foreword v Preface vii Executive Summary 1 Introduction 13 Promoting Nutritious Millets for Enhancing Income and Improved Nutrition: 19 A Case Study from Tamil Nadu and Orissa S. Bala Ravi, S. Swain, D. Sengotuvel and N.R. Parida Enhancing Food Security and Income of the Rural Poor through 47 Technological Support for Improved Cultivation of Finger Millet: A Case Study from Southern Karnataka K.T. Krishne Gowda, S. Reddy, Jayarame Gowda, J. Musthari Begum, J. Vijayakumari, N. Reddy and K. Shantha Kumari Food Security and Income Enhancement of Rural Poor through Improved 69 Production Technology and Value Addition of Nutritious Small Millets: A Case Study from Northern Karnataka G. Shanthakumar, N.B. Yenagi, G.C. Shekhar and S.I. Halikatti Food Security and Income Generation of Rural People through 107 the Cultivation of Finger Millet in Nepal R.C. Prasad, R.P. Upreti, S.Thapa, L.B. Jirel, P.R. Shakya and D.N. Mandal Promoting Neglected and Underutilized Species in Nepal: 147 A Case of Finger Millet B. Bhandari, A. Subedi, S. Gyawali, K.P. Baral, K.R. Chowin, P. Shrestha and B. Sthapit Annexures 177 Acronyms 183 iv MINOR MILLETS IN SOUTH ASIA FOREWORD v Foreword The project, “Enhancing the Contributions of Nutritious but Neglected Crops to Food Security and to Incomes of the Rural Poor: Asia Component-Nutritious Millets” was part of a multi-country initiative on underutilized crops supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and globally coordinated by Bioversity International (formerly, the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), Rome. The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation implemented and coordinated the South Asian component of this project. This book summarizes the major achievements made under this project during its first phase during 2002-2004. I am extremely happy that this three-year project has made spectacular progress in promoting nutritious millets for enhancing the food and nutritional security of rural people, who largely depend on these crops. These crops also play an important role in contributing to livelihood security. The project leveraged approaches such as farmer participatory variety selection, improved agronomic practices and value chain development on grain. The significant achievements made on yield enhancement together with better cost-benefit ratio and increased income generation through value addition of grain and linking these products to the market. The contributions of this project in farmer participatory conservation of the genetic resources of these crops with increased participation of women farmers, replacing of traditional millet grain processing with automated simple village level machinery and empowering farm women and men with knowledge and skill on value addition and product development, have made notable impact in arresting the rapid erosion of these valuable genetic resources, promoting increased consumption of these nutritious grains at household level, reduction of drudgery of women in grain processing, and creating capacity to initiate group enterprises on grain value addition as well as income generation from off-farm activities. The value chain development has also generated substantial additional employment and income to the local people. The project has been successful in generating considerable awareness among farmers and other consumers on the nutritional importance of these grains, while it had addressed policy makers on the importance of these grains in regional and national food and nutritional security. I am confident that the results achieved under this project in India and Nepal will be consolidated by the donor agencies and food policy experts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal relating to the elimination of hunger and poverty. Above all, by establishing a strong linkage among conservation, cultivation, consumption and commercialization in these underutilized food crops, this project has established a successful model in creating an economic stake in conservation of local genetic resources. The International Fund for Agricultural Development which provided funding support and Bioversity International which extended logistic and technical support deserve appreciation for their visionary policy initiative on promoting the neglected vi MINOR MILLETS IN SOUTH ASIA crops and thus safeguarding the livelihood and nutrition security of many of the poorest of the poor in the constituent countries. These crops have substantive potential in broadening the genetic diversity in the food basket and ensuring improved food and nutrition security. Above all, these less water requiring crops will become an additional blessing in the emerging era of climate change and associated adverse changes in precipitation and temperature. I sincerely thank Dr. S. Appa Rao and Dr. S. Bala Ravi for their leadership as coordinators of the Asia component of this project. I also greatly appreciate the commendable efforts made by Drs. S. Bala Ravi, Stefano Padulosi and Bhag Mal for bringing out this publication, which provides the important learning from the Phase I of this project. I hope this publication will be widely read and used by policy makers and scientists engaged in building a sustainable nutrition security system. Date: 20 November, 2010 Prof. M.S. Swaminathan Chairman, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India FOREWORD vii Foreword I extend my congratulations to the authors and contributors of this publication that documents the results of the IFAD funded project “Enhancing the Contribution of Nutritious but Neglected Crops to Food Security and to Incomes of the Rural Poor: Asia Component-Nutritious Millets” that was implemented from 2002-2004. The project was coordinated at international level by Bioversity International (then known as IPGRI) and for South Asia by M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). This publication summarizes the successful implementation and results of the project in India and Nepal. The results of the project highlight the importance looking at the entire value chain of millets from production to value addition and marketing. This is essential if we are to achieve a sustainable enhancement of the economic conditions of householders through reduction of drudgery, increased employment, as well as their improved food and nutrition security. The development of efficient processing technologies for the target crops and making them available to communities helped make these underutilized millets commercially more profitable to farmers and other value chain actors while at the same time boosting peoples’ ability to diversify the portfolio of their locally made products. Development of capacities of farmers and their families on the different aspects of millet production, processing, utilization; marketing and allied subjects were another important activity of this project. Public awareness complemented these efforts to publicize the strategic nutritional value of these crops targeting both producers and the general public, including policy makers. This farm-to-fork approach involving interventions along the entire value chain of millets proved to be very successful in re-invigorating peoples’ interest in underutilized and neglected crops such as those addressed by the project. Moreover, the inter-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder, gender and cultural sensitive participatory approach used in implementing the project helped in ensuring the success of the project. This publication is an important resource for developing strategies and programmes that aim to tackle the difficult issues of poverty, food and nutrition security through mobilization and better use of existing and indigenous farm resources. Our hope is that the findings described in this publication will gain greater attention from decision makers to allow their scaling up and contribute to the greater sustainable conservation and use of minor millets and other similar crops. The Asia-Pacific region is the centre of diversity of many important food crops, including those that are now considered neglected and underutilized. These indigenous fruit trees, cereals, and vegetables