Citizen of Kezoma Village's Yohotsomi B Khel sow millet on a 2-hectare jhum field on March 12. The sowing is part of millet cultivation demonstration under National Food Security Mission 2024-2025. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express news
Kohima | March 12
As part of a mass millet cultivation demonstration under National Food Security Mission (NFSM) 2024-2025, over 100 farmers from Yohotsomi B Khel, Kezoma Village, Kohima today took part in millet sowing of about a 2 hectare field at Chieza, Kezoma.
During the daylong demonstration, three varieties of millet seeds were sown.
Speaking on the occasion, District Agriculture Officer (DAO), Kekhrieletuo Yhome informed that under the NFSM, the department is taking up millet on priority basis observing that this crop cultivation is a dying practice among farmers in Kohima District.
While the success of the mission largely depends on collaborative efforts of the farmers and the support of the government, he highlighted that department supports the farmers by providing some financial assistance and technical support as and when required for ensuring good produce of the crop asas part of the mission.
Highlighting the labour-intensive and time-consuming nature of millet cultivation, particularly during milling, Yhome stressed the need for machinery support to ease the process and move away from traditional practices.
In this connection, modern machineries like millet mill will be provided to the farmers for aiding and replacing the pounding of millet, he informed.
He emphasised the significant nutritional and health benefits of millet, further citing it as a rich source of protein and a suitable alternative to rice for diabetic patients.
In olden days, millet was used to substitute rice during July or August when villagers had grain shortage, he added.
Another benefit, the DAO pointed was that it can be a source of generating income given its value and availability in the market.
He mentioned villages like Kezoma, Chiechama and Mima villages are starting to take up millet on a higher scale.
According to recent trends, Kezoma Village is among the leading villages in Kohima to engage in large-scale farming, he added.
As for the mission, Yhome hoped that the NFSM will continue and encourage farmers to take up the farming in larger scale.
Chairman, Kezoma Village Council (KVC) Kikrosa Naki, informed that as per the village level resolution, three villages- Kezoma, Kezo Basa and Kezo Town has undertaken a resolution to observe Chünyi (millet festival) every year on July 20.
Apart from that, he added that the khels and different groups have demarcated plot of land to cultivate millet on a large scale.
Naki also expressed appreciation to the department for continuously extending support to the village in various agriculture practices.
An elder of the village and former Village Council Chairman, Zadeho Rikha, recalled how millet was once considered the food of the poor, while rice cultivators were seen as wealthy.
Subsequently, millet cultivation significantly declined over the past decade or two, but its value has now reversed, he noted.
“In the past, our parents would exchange a kilogram of grain for twice the amount of millet, but today, millet costs twice the price of rice,” Rikha observed.
To this end, he urged farmers to grow the crop, but cautioned them not to take advantage of market rate and high demand, but cultivate it for subsistence so that other villages can also follow in their footstep.
Officials from District Agriculture Office, Kohima including DAO, SDO, Deputy Agriculture Officer, Agriculture Officers and Inspectors, Village Council members, Village Development Board and elders among others witnessed the demonstration.
