Odisha Governor Urges Youth to Embrace Shri Ann for Health and Farmer Welfare
Odishas Governor calls on youth to include millets in their diet, highlighting benefits for health, farmers, and the environment.
Bhubaneswar, November 10 (Daily Kiran) : The Governor of Odisha, Braj Mohan Ram, recently urged the public, especially youth, students, and government employees, to incorporate “Shri Ann,” or millets, into their daily diets. Speaking at the inauguration of the Symposium-2026 on strengthening traditional seed systems and millets, he emphasized that promoting these grains would benefit public health, farmers, and the environment.
During his address in Bhubaneswar, Ram stated, “Every household’s meals should include millets such as ragi, bajra, and jowar. Adopting healthy eating habits is not only good for individual health but also shows respect for our farmers and agricultural traditions.”
Highlighting the significance of millets in India’s agricultural heritage, the Governor noted that these crops have been integral to traditional diets for centuries. In Odisha, particularly in tribal and rain-fed regions, millet cultivation is deeply connected to local livelihoods and cultural practices. Promoting ragi, he added, would help increase farmers’ incomes while preserving this agricultural legacy.
Ram pointed out that millet farming is a sustainable option, requiring less water, incurring lower cultivation costs, and being resilient to adverse weather conditions. He also discussed their nutritional benefits, including high dietary fiber and essential nutrients. Regular consumption of millets can inspire healthier eating habits, especially in the face of rising lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.
The Governor stressed the need to enhance processing, packaging, value addition, and marketing facilities to connect Odisha’s millets to larger domestic and international markets.
He also called for the establishment of community seed banks, documentation of local seed varieties, and promotion of their exchange, emphasizing that these varieties symbolize generations of farmers’ knowledge and are crucial for maintaining agricultural biodiversity. He recognized tribal communities and women farmers as key guardians of traditional seeds and advocated for integrating local knowledge with modern science, technology, and improved market access.
Appreciating the Odisha government’s “Shri Ann Campaign” and the central government’s initiatives to promote millets, Ram stated that collective efforts in preserving traditional seeds, protecting agricultural diversity, and increasing farmers’ incomes would contribute to achieving the goals of “Developed Odisha 2036” and “Developed India 2047.”
The symposium also featured addresses from Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, ICAR Director General Dr. Mangi Lal Jat, MSSRF Chairperson and former Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, and OUAT Vice Chancellor Prof. Pravat Kumar Raul.
