The North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS) together with its partner communities from Garo Hills, celebrated Aman Asong (Mother Earth) Millet Festival cum Agroecology Learning Circle (ALC) sharing today at Hotel Polo Orchid, Tura.
Various representatives and officials from different government departments- College of Community Science, Meghalaya Basin Development Agency, Mission Organic Value Chain Development for Northeast Region (MOVCDNER), ATMA, custodian farmers from partner villages, Nokmas from non-project villages, and many other community members attended the program.
Speaking at the event Rongram Civil Sub-Divisional Officer, Abhishek Gowda appreciated the efforts of farmers and NESFAS in promoting and reviving millet and said there is a need to promote the intergenerational transfer of knowledge about millets and their different varieties.
Senior Associate of Garo Hills and Nutrition, Rimchi N Marak also spoke on the importance of reviving millet which has diminished greatly over the years and shared some of the success stories achieved by NESFAS over the years.
As part of the ALC project, communities have conducted a year-long experiment on pests, soil and production management and have reaped the fruits of their labour.
Awards were also presented to three of the best Community Facilitators (CF), and the best ALC group, which was bagged by Adingma ALC group from Misimagre community in West Garo Hills.
The programme concluded with the inauguration of stalls, put by various partner communities, wherein they displayed different food products, and beverages made from locally available fruits, wild edibles, millet varieties, local seeds, handicrafts etc.
