Tura, April 5: The North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society together with its partner communities from Garo Hills, celebrated Aman A•song (Mother Earth) Millet Festival cum Agroecology Learning Circle (ALC) on Wednesday at Hotel Polo Orchid in Tura.
Civil Sub-Divisional Officer, Rongram Block, Abhishek Gowda was the Chief Guest on the occasion, in the presence of various representatives and officials from different government departments and agencies like the College of Community Science, Meghalaya Basin Development Agency, Mission Organic Value Chain Development for Northeast Region (MOVCDNER), ATMA, custodian farmers from partner villages, Nokmas from non-project villages.
Speaking on the occasion, Gowda said that as Millet is rich in nutrients such as iron, fibre, and calcium which is good for health, there is a need to promote the intergenerational transfer of knowledge about millets and their different varieties.
“I appreciate the efforts of the farmers and NESFAS in promoting and reviving this food crop and would like to encourage you all to continue doing so,” he added.
Rimchi N Marak, Senior Associate of Garo Hills and Nutrition, also spoke on the importance of reviving millet which has diminished greatly over the years and shared some of the success stories achieved by NESFAS over the years.
Awards were also presented to three of the best Community Facilitators (CF), and the best ALC group, which was bagged by Adingma ALC group from Misimagre community in West Garo Hills.
The programme concluded with the inauguration of stalls, put by various partner communities, wherein they displayed different food products, and beverages made from locally available fruits, wild edibles, millet varieties, local seeds, handicrafts etc.