In partnership with the Shree Anna Abhiyan, CREFTDA continued its impactful journey of promoting millet cultivation and consumption across the tribal blocks of Jashipur and Raruan in Mayurbhanj District during 2024–25. This initiative is not just about crops—it’s a holistic effort to improve nutrition, livelihoods, climate resilience, and community empowerment.

Key Objectives

• Enhance household millet consumption by 25% for better nutrition.
• Promote local millet enterprises, especially led by women.
• Improve millet productivity and profitability.
• Establish market linkages for millet-based products.
• Integrate millets into state nutrition programs and PDS.

Geographic Reach & Community Involvement

• Covered 32 Gram Panchayats, 188 villages.
• Engaged 3,400+ farmers in millet cultivation.
• Facilitated 1,655 hectares under demonstration.
• Harvested 8,050 quintals of millets; over 4,200 quintals sold via procurement mandis.

Major Activities

• Awareness Ratha Campaigns: Decorated vans traveled village to village, raising awareness on millet nutrition, processing, and procurement.
• Food Festivals: Celebrated local millet dishes and traditional cooking methods, reviving forgotten food cultures and encouraging household consumption.
• Training Programs:
  • 12 trainings for Community Resource Persons (CRPs) and progressive farmers.
  • 8 sessions on System of Millets Intensification (SMI), training over 250 farmers in sustainable cultivation practices.
• Field Days & Crop Cutting Events: Demonstrated successful farming techniques and yield outcomes, fostering knowledge-sharing among farmers.

Outcomes & Impact

• Boosted nutrition awareness and dietary diversity.
• Supported value chain development with market access for surplus production.
• Empowered rural women through involvement in processing and enterprise.
• Strengthened local agricultural resilience against climate shocks.

This millet initiative has not only revived a traditional grain but also reinforced CREFTDA’s commitment to food security, environmental sustainability, and community well-being in Odisha’s tribal regions.