The Naveen Patnaik Government last week approved the second phase of ‘Odisha Millet Mission (OMM)’ at an estimated investment of ₹2808.39 crore over six years, which is touted to be the second largest targeted agricultural programme after Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA).
As the OMM is intended at reviving millets in farms and on plates mostly in tribal areas, the ruling Biju Janata Dal is set to strengthen its base further among tribals and women riding on the success of the mission.
KALAI scheme
Just before 2019 elections (Lok Sabha and Assembly), the Naveen Patnaik-government had rolled out the ₹10,000-crore KALIA scheme which was aimed at relieving the debt-ridden farmers from the debt-trap by providing financial assistance to the vulnerable agriculture households, landless labourers as well as marginal cultivators of the State. As the cash was transferred to the accounts of farmers, the regional party was said to have reaped political benefits in the elections.
Now, Odisha has approved the second phase of OMM, which will be implemented between the financial year of 2021-22 and 2026-27. The focus of the mission will be the tribal region, where all three parties Bharatiya Janata Party, BJD and Congress are trying to become the preferred party for tribal voters.
A special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas of Odisha (Odisha Millets Mission) was launched by Odisha in 2017 to revive millets.
“It is the first of its kind of agriculture programme with priority on increasing consumptions in Odisha. The programme aims at a comprehensive revival of millets in farms and plates to promote climate-resilient farming and contribute to addressing micronutrient deficiency,” said the government.
Executed by women self-help groups and farmer producers organizations with the support of non-government organisations and research institutions under the aegis of Department of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment, the OMM was first made operational in 30 blocks across seven districts such as Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nuapada, and Rayagada. It was gradually expanded to 84 blocks in 15 districts.
Women, important constituents of millet mission
During the past two decades, women voters have solidly backed the Naveen Patnaik Government as it has organised them through self-help movement. Women are the important constituents of the millet mission.
Now, the government has announced that it would increase the OMM coverage to 142 blocks in 19 districts from 2022-23 onwards. The government wants to touch the lives of 1,56,773 farmers in 19104 villages in the 19 districts.
The mission has a fairly good success rate as it had involved 5740 farmers in 2018-19 procurement season and brought 41,286 farmers into its fold. In 2021-22, about 3,23,019 quintals of millet were procured while ₹109.08 crore was paid out.
Millets, which are climate-resilient crops, had been widely used by people in tribal pockets. Over the years, the tribals stopped producing millets due to decreasing consumption level and lace of crop’s demand in the general market.
Millets stage a comeback
After the launching of OMM, local varieties of millets have staged a comeback. In Kandhamal, 48 varieties of millets have now been used while Balangir district has seen the revival of 40 varieties. In districts such as Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada and Sundargarh, over 30 local varieties of millets have been propagated.
The government has tried to increase the consumption of millets among the general public through cooking consumption, promoting ready-to-eat foods with eatables such as ladoos, and bakery items through local enterprises and opening of outlets by women self-help groups.
As the consumption of millets is more confined to tribal areas and the crop is getting hugely popular in urban areas, the farmers stand to benefit out of a rising demand of the crop. As millets have already transcended from the tribal food basket to the kitchens of urbanites, there is every possibility of cash flowing into the hands of the tribal farmers. The BJD would surely list it as its success, said political observers.
