Meet the Millet Lady of Odisha!

Raimati Ghiuria was invited to participate in the G20 summit which earned her the Title of “Queen of Millets” from her village residents. She has preserved at least 72 traditional varieties of paddy and 30 types of millets like Kundra and Mand. Apart from this she is also teaching hundreds of women how to grow these nutritious grains.

Ms. Raimati Ghiuria, who belongs to Bhumia tribe and resides in the Koraput district with her husband and three children, initially gives the impression that she is just another woman from Odisha. However, for many women this Nuaguda Village resident serves as an inspiration. Ms. Raimati is a multifaceted individual who serves as a trainer, a farmer, and a community resource person.

Despite studying only up to class 7 and being married at the age of 16. She didn’t give up her passion and continued collecting and preserving millets. She attributes her knowledge to practical experience gained on fields. Inspired by Kamala Pujari – a 70 year old woman who was honoured with Padma Shri for preserving hundreds of varieties of paddy seeds. She started working under her guidance and joined MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) based in Chennai.

Since 2002, she has worked with MSSRF on a number of projects and has contributed to the preservation of over 80 paddy landraces and about 30 millet landraces. With the help of MSSRF and scientific techniques she is able to improve the yield and quality of Millets. Being awarded with the “Best farmer” award by ICAR in 2016 and by TATA Steel in 2018. She is now training other farmers the art of millet farming and preservation. So far she has trained around 2500 farmers of her block and has also developed cuisines made from millets.

She currently serves as the leader of a SHG of female farmers and of farmer-producing companies. They are transforming millets into value added products like laddus and pakoras for the neighbourhood market.

Women like her and Lahari Bai are not only revolutionizing the agricultural sector but are also promoting the consumption of millets. Its important to note that millets once accounted for one-third of India’s food basket. However with the advent of green revolution the food diversity declined. Since the last century people started consuming more of wheat ,rice and maize which ruled the world and our plates. The consumption of millets declined by 83% in the rural areas and by 77% in the urban areas.

In the wake of climate change, millets play a significant role. They are not only climate resilient and hardy but are also nutritious. Some of the benefits of eating millets are-

• Millets are a great source of micronutrients, antioxidants, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and B-complex.
• They contain a lot of fiber and are thus good for digestion.
• They are gluten free
• Compared to refined grains, millets have a lower glycemic index (GI). They are therefore a good option for those who are want to control their diabetes or blood sugar.
• They help reduce blood pressure, cholesterol levels and the risk of heart diseases.
• They can also solve the crisis of micronutrient deficiency unlike wheat and rice.

However steps need to be taken to increase its production and consumption simultaneously. For its consumption would not only improve nutrition, food security but also the welfare of farmers. The combined efforts of tribal farmers like Raimati and that of Modi government will definitely add synergy in this direction.