The College of Horticulture and Forestry (CHF), Pasighat in collaboration with the Siang district agriculture department has launched a ‘Millet Cultivation Project’ at the remote Riga village in Siang district. The project is sponsored by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research run Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) in Hyderabad to increase the production of millet in the northeastern region.

Professor of CHF (Agronomy), Paban Kumar Gaudar said that the Project aims at popularizing millet cultivation in Arunachal Pradesh , since it is rich in protein and minerals besides having antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic (cancer preventive) qualities.

Millets cultivation in Arunachal Pradesh covers only 20 to 30 per cent of the total cropped area, but the project aims to increase it to 70 to 80 percent. “We target to cover 30 hectares of cultivable land in seven selected districts in the first phase”, he added. A day-long training programme on millet cultivation was also organized during which agriculture scientists imparted knowledge to farmers on the economic importance of millets with reference to their food and medicinal values. The participants also learned about the cultivation and safe harvesting procedures of millets during the training.