Millet Network members The Millet Network of India supports millet farmers. It was created by one hundred women who realised the qualities of the traditional crop. The group have helped village farmers to grow millet with low water usage and organic fertiliser while highlighting the injustice of government subsidies which encourage competitor crops like rice. It has received both the

Nari Shakti Puraskar The Nari Shakti Puraskar is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is the highest civilian hon ...

and the Equator Award.

Background

Millet is a traditional grain in India and the Millet Network of India promotes it because the crop will grow with less water than other crops. This is particularly apparent when it is compared with rice which enjoys a subsidy in India. Millet will grow on poor soil, it suffers from few diseases and the harvested crop can be kept for a long time. Millet can be fed with natural fertilisers, but not many farmers still grow it, stopping because there is little demand. White rice is more popular and rice growing attracts a government subsidy. In 2016, the network was campaigning and lobbying government to get millet recognised by legislation which currently excludes it. They wanted the National Food Security Act amended so that millet would be included in the subsidised food that is made available to the poor. The month long campaign was designed to end on

World Food Day World Food Day is an international day celebrated every year worldwide on October 16 to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organization ...

By 2018, the network had 5,000 members and Moghulamma received the

on behalf of the network on International Women's Day in 2018. This is the highest civilian honour for women, given for an outstanding contribution to women's empowerment and presented by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind (; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician who served as the 14th President of India from 2017 to 2022. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the second person after K. R. Narayanan, from the Dalit community ...

on 8 March 2018. The network was one of 39 recipients from all over India. Moghulamma, who collected the award, was aged 36 and had become a full time farmer after her husband and his mother died. It was her mother-in-law who had got her involved with the Millet Network and she has gained attention for her success at organically growing millet. The network supplies advice on pest control and the organic use of

vermicompost Vermicompost (vermi-compost) is the product of the decomposition process using various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms, to create a mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and ...

, manure and

panchgavya Panchagavya or panchakavyam is a mixture used in traditional Hindu rituals that is prepared by mixing five ingredients. The three direct constituents are cow dung, urine, and milk; the two derived products are curd and ghee. These are mixed in p ...

. In 2019 she went to New York to receive the Equator Award from UNESCO.

References

{{Nari Shakti Puraskar Organisations based in India Organizations with year of establishment missing Nari Shakti Puraskar winners