By HH Mohrmen
Krai, kre, chan, or misi is the name by which the people in the different parts of Khasi, Jañtia and Garo hills call millet. In the past, it was one of the most important crops in the region but was neglected. However, today it is being seen as an important crop the world over. Like rice or wheat, millet is a cereal, but it is referred to as a “coarse cereal” because of its rough texture. Pius Ranee of NESFAS informed me that in the Khasi Hills, farmers grow five types of millet: krai truh, krai lon, krai jasheh, krai kew, and krai shan. In Jañtia Hills, rice is a popular crop for the people who live on the plateaus, and it is on the southern slope, where farmers practise jhum cultivation, that millet was a popular crop.
Millet is their mainstay.
People who lived in the border area and are now in their late sixties and early eighties shared stories about the time when millet was their major food item. My mother, who was born in Nongtalang, used to reminisce about the days when she was a kid and when millet was their main meal. She recalled the time when “gji chan,” or millet-rice, which comprises rice and millet, was their mainstay. This story is common among the War people who live in the southern slopes of the state. In some areas, millet was also fermented to make traditional beer, but unlike rice, millet has never been used to make snacks.
NESFAS story with millet
It started in 2010, when NESFAS organised its first food festival and farmers from Nongtraw shared the story of the importance of millet to the Khat-ar shnong area. They expressed a wish to promote the crop. In 2011, at the Slow Food Festival in Sweden, the millet network made a declaration on the importance of millet. In 2012, at the festival that was held in Turin, priority was given to millet, which was then neglected. Now 65 communities through the ALCs NESFAS and its partners were able to promote millet in the states of North East India.
No woman, no Krai
It was Phrang Roy founder and former chairman of NESFAS who came up with the statement ‘no woman, no krai’ in 2012. The saying, which is a twist on the title of a song, was borrowed from Bob Marley’s popular song “No Woman, No Cry.” With due respect to the legendary reggae king, the statement refers to the importance of women in millet cultivation. In millet cultivation, particularly in jhum cultivation, women play a very important role; in fact, without women, no jhum cultivation can happen as their role is very vital. It may be mentioned that the famous ‘long-ha’ tradition of the Wars of Jañtia which is related to millet cultivation, was also performed predominantly by women. Millet cultivation amongst the people in the Khasi and Jañtia hills therefore has a strong connection with women.
Long-hai the weeding tradition
Millet cultivation is associated with jhum, or slash and burn cultivation, and has been part of the people’s culture and traditions since a long time ago. In the War Jañtia area, a tradition called “long-hai,” which was a weeding practice is connected to jhum cultivation. Long-hai is a community support system where farmers donate one day’s labour to support members of their respective communities. During the weeding time, farmers would extend support to each other by working at each other’s jhum field.
The owner of the jhum field does not have to pay the members of the community for their labour but would only have to provide them with food and drink for the voluntary services that they had provided. The tradition starts from the jhum-field’s owner’s house, and as the procession moves from the owner’s house to the fields, the farmer marches along while also chanting songs that are specifically meant for this part of the custom and practice.
When the popularity of millet declined
Prior to the Green Revolution, millet was a popular crop in different parts of Meghalaya. As a matter of fact, in the south of Jañtia where the hills slope towards the plain of Bangladesh, millet was the main crop. On the slopes where the terrain is not conducive for rice or wheat cultivation, millet is the only cereal crop that people grow. It was the green revolution, which prioritised the production of rice and wheat and, in the process, sidelined millet. Millet then became the ‘ugly duckling’ of the popular cereal in the region. A paper published claimed that before the green revolution, the production of rice and millet was much higher than the production of wheat, barley, and maize put together. The production of millet decreases a few decades after the green revolution was initiated, when priority was given to rice and wheat.
The neglected golden crop
People may have neglected it now, but millet was part of people’s food systems, particularly those who live on the southern slopes of the state and in the area along the borders with Assam. In the Jañtia Hills, millet has not been popular with the people who live on the uplands because they have inherited rich wetland rice cultivation. For the people on the plateau of Jañtia hills, their culture revolves around rice. It is the people in the border regions of now Assam and Bangladesh, who are not familiar with wetland cultivation of rice, for whom millet is their mainstay. Unlike in the uplands, people in this region practise jhum cultivation, and millet is the main crop of the people in the region.
Reviving millet cultivation in Jaiñtia hills
In Meghalaya, it was NESFAS that took the initiative to revive millet cultivation, and this scribe was part of the activity. In the year 2014, this writer, along with Pius Ranee of NESFAS, visited Moosakhia village and enquired from members of the community if they happened to still have some stories related to millet. An elderly man in the village, Ma Loren Pakshang, said that he still had a “khoh symbe,” or a bamboo basket full of millet, which he had kept for many years. He said since nobody is growing the crop anymore and he didn’t know what to do with the millet, he just kept it in the cone. It was from this basket of millet, which was kept for many years, that millet cultivation in the area revived again. The other advantage of millet is its shelf life.
Why millet is important
The United Nations has declared this year 2023 as the International Year of Millet for many reasons. Millet is believed to be a climate-resilient crop, which could help feed the world’s ever-growing population. QU Dongyu, Director-General of FAO, said, “Millet can play an important role and contribute to our collective efforts to empower smallholder farmers, achieve sustainable development, eliminate hunger, adapt to climate change, promote biodiversity, and transform the agrifood system.” This year, India has a budget allocation of 56.60 crore for the popularisation of millet, and it is also expected that millet production in the country will increase from 14.52 MT in 2016–17 to 17.96 MT in 21–22.
Health benefits of millet
It is an established fact that cereals like wheat and rice are rich sources of carbohydrates, but it was also found that millet contains more protein, dietary fibre, iron, and calcium than rice and wheat. Research has also found that millet helps in the fight against diabetes because it has a low glycemic index, which means that it has a lesser impact on blood glucose levels than foods that are higher up on the index. Millet is considered to be a nutrient-rich food.
Climate-friendly crop
Millet is also being promoted as a super crop because it was found that this particular crop uses 70% less water than rice, and with climate change staring at the world, millet could also save the world from starvation. Compared to rice and wheat, which need so much water, millet is the crop of the future. It also grows much faster than other cereals, as it grows in half the time of wheat; from this perspective too, millet is a much better candidate than other cereals. Millet is a tough crop that can also withstand extreme heat conditions; hence, it is sometimes called a “climate smart crop”.
Meghalaya and millet
Meghalaya, it seems, still lives in obscurity; the government does not seem to be aware of the importance of this crop, which was once part of the history of the region and our culture. The government should act soon and engage with organizations which are working in promotion of the crop. The fear is that it will be a case of ‘too little too late’ by the time the government of Meghalaya wakes up from its stupor.