Learning from grassroot level, CBSE students to learn from Farmers

Learning from grassroot level, CBSE students to learn from Farmers
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) students will learn about local millets from farmers in interactive sessions in the school after their exams. Celebrating International Year of Millets (IYOM), as announced by the United Nations, the Board has instructed its affiliated schools to conduct various activities.
As per records, ‘Millets’ were among the first crops to be domesticated in India with several evidence of its consumption during the Indus valley civilization.
Hence, the Board has urged schools to educate students about the same. CBSE director (academic) Dr. Joseph Emmanuel asked schools to conduct activities related to millets in the form of competitions such as essay, poems, quiz etc.
“A millet map may be hung on the classroom wall prepared together by teachers and students,” Emmanuel said.
Further, schools can organise exhibitions showing different millets with their nutritional value and possible recipes providing an opportunity to students to taste them.
“Experts/ farmers should be invited to share their knowledge and experience regarding millet as a crop,” Emmanuel said. He asked schools to invite different stakeholders including parents to attend the programmes.
Traditional food of India
Being grown in more than 130 countries at present, millets are considered the traditional food for more than half a billion people across Asia and Africa. In India, millets are primarily a kharif crop, requiring less water and agricultural inputs than other similar staples. Millets are important by the virtue of their mammoth potential to generate livelihoods, increase farmers’ income and ensure food and nutritional security all over the world.
Padma Shri Janak McGilligan Palta

Millets adapt and provide nutrition
Millets have been an integral part of our diet for centuries. In addition to a plethora of health benefits, millets are also good for the environment with low water and input requirement. To be able to explain this and the process of the same to children would make a huge difference in the way we look at millets. Millets have a wide capacity for adaptation because they can grow from coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh to moderately high altitudes of North-eastern states and hilly regions of Uttarakhand. Of course, we get the best harvest of millets in Madhya Pradesh. Millets can withstand variations in moisture, temperature and the type of soils ranging from heavy to sandy infertile lands.
Organic farmer and bee keeper Govind Maheshwari

Kids need to learn and support Millets
The problem that we all face majorly is that most people grow up eating only wheat and rice. They have not developed an interest in or taste for millets. This is because we fail to understand the importance of them. Millets are sustainable and healthy. Most of the millets are non-acid forming, non-glutinous, highly nutritious, and easily digestible foods. Due to low glycaemia index (GI) being gluten-free, it helps in a slower release of glucose over a longer period of time thus reducing the risk of diabetes mellitus. Individuals suffering from celiac disease can easily incorporate various millets in their diets.
Nikky Sureka, an organic farmer and dairy owner