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‘Lets Millet’ is the new tagline for the Karnataka Agriculture Department’s campaign as it seeks to foster tie-ups between growers of organic products and modern trade retailers such as Future Group and Bigbasket.
The State is organising a three-day National Trade Fair on Organic & Millets here on the April 28 weekend to promote the nutri-rich cereals.
More than 200 companies — including Reliance, ITC Foods and MTR among others — and about 40,000 visitors are expected to participate in the trade fair, said Karnataka Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda. Through the trade fair, the State is looking to create awareness and demand for millets and organic products.
Gowda said the facilitation of linkages with retailers is expected to help the organic and millet farmers increase price realisation for their produce. Also, it would help the retailers secure their supplies. The market for organic products has crossed ₹4500 crore, including exports of ₹3,500 crore and the domestic market accounting for around ₹1,000 crore.
According to estimates, the market is expected to touch ₹10,000 crore by 2020. “Bengaluru is the single largest market for organics, estimated at ₹250 crore,” Gowda added.
Organic pioneerKarnataka, the first State to come out with a policy for organic farming, has promoted the concept among farmers through the Savayava Bhagya Yojane. An estimated 54,000 farmers have turned about 63,677 hectares organic in the State over the past four years.
Millets, cultivated in an area of around 2.01 million hectares in Karnataka, are considered smart foods because they are good for health, farmer and planet. Karnataka has taken steps to revive the cultivation of millets by offering subsidy and bonus over and above the minimum support price.
The latest campaign is aimed at creating awareness on the benefits of millets. “With this campaign, we hope to increase the area under millet cultivation and this would improve nutritional security alongside building our capacity to cope with climate change,” Byre Gowda said.
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