Cultivating Millet Champion !!

Authors:

Niranjan Pudasaini

Honorable Minister Mr. Ram Nath Adhikari awarding Ms. Kabita Jaisi, chairperson of Dhauligad agriculture cooperative, Jumla. Photos: Niranjan Pudasaini, LI-BIRD.

Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD), the National Farmers Group Federation (NFGF), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Changunarayan Municipality and Association of Nepal Agriculture Journalist (ANAJ) jointly organized 1st National Millet Day 2082 on 16th Shrawan 2082 (1st August 2025) in Bhaktapur. As part of the celebration, Hanku Community Seed Bank managed by Dhauligaadh Agriculture Cooperative, located in Tatopani RM-5, Aireni, Jumla, has been recognized with a letter of appreciation and a cash prize of Nepalese Rupees Fifteen Thousand (NPR 15,000) for their unwavering contribution to the conservation and promotion of millets and other indigenous crops in Jumla. Similarly, the Kodali Venture, a Kathmandu based private agro-enterprise was also awarded for their contribution on processing, value addition and marketing of indigenous crops including millets. 

Honorable Minister Mr. Ram Nath Adhikari, MoALD attended the event as a chief guest of the ceremony along with various high-level officials from Nepal government. Mr. Ken Shimizu, Country Representative for Nepal, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was present as a special guest of event where Dr. Govinda Prasad Sharma, secretary of MoALD, Dr. Ramkrishna Shrestha, joint secretary of MoALD, Mr. Prakash Sanjel, Director General, Department of Agriculture (DoA), Dr. Krishna Timilsina, Executive Director of Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NACR), Mr. Keshab Prasad Devkota, Chief of Center for Crop Development Agro-Biodiversity Conservation (CCDABC) along with other senior officials from MoALD, DoA, NARC had also graced the event with their presence. Distinguishing guests highlighted the importance of millets in Nepal in the context of changing climate, food and nutritional insecurity, suitability of the indigenous crops in Nepalese farming system and growing demand of healthy foods. The event was full of diverse participants representing local governments, government agencies, development partners, farmer’s institutions, agri-entrepreneurs, media and local farmers.

Mr. Panchakaji Shrestha, chairperson of NFGF sharing his remarks in the event.

Chief guest of the ceremony Honorable Minister Mr. Ram Nath Adhikari, MoALD handed over the award to Ms. Kabita Jaisi Parajuli, Chairperson of Dhauligaadh Agriculture Cooperative, Jumla. Ms. Jaisi has demonstrated strong commitment and stewardship in conserving, cultivating, and marketing indigenous crops, notably Rato Kodo, Jumli beans, Jumli Marsi rice, amaranths, barley, and more. Hanku community seed bank is conserving 57 local landraces of 18 different mountainous crops. The cooperative is the only institution in Nepal to register a landrace of a finger millet, “Rato Kodo” and a landrace of Amaranths “Rato Latte” in the national seed system. This milestone was achieved in 2020 with support from the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP)-Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded Local Crop Project (LCP) jointly implemented by Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD), Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC)-Gene Bank, and Bioversity International. Since then, the cooperative has persistently maintained source seed of Rato Kodo and has continued its production and marketing with an annual turnover of 2–3 tons. From 2024, the cooperative has also been supplying finger millets and other indigenous crops to ten local schools as part of the school mid-day meal program in coordination with Renewable Energy for Resilient Agri-Food System (RERAS)* project and Tatopani Rural Municipality. In 2024, cooperative have achieved annual transaction of 1.3 million Nepalese rupees by supplying indigenous crops and locally grown fresh vegetables to local schools through mid-day meal program.

Ms. Kabita Jaisi, chairperson of Dhauligad agriculture cooperative, Jumla with letter of appreciation.

Under the leadership of Ms. Jaisi, Dhauligaadh Agriculture Cooperative and Hanku Community Seed Bank managed by the cooperative has emerged as an exemplary farmer’s institution contributing for the conservation of local agrobiodiversity through its sustainable use. Their relentless effort on conservation and promotion of indigenous crops is truly inspiring and replicable. LI-BIRD has been providing continuous support to the cooperative and its seed bank with the financial support of multiple international partners namely UNEP-GEF, Bioversity International, United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) and Welthungerhilfe (WHH). To achieve this, coordination and collaboration with local government, NARC-Gene Bank, Center for Crop Development Agro-Biodiversity Conservation (CCDABC) and Community Seed Bank Association Nepal (CSBAN) has been instrumental.

*Renewable Energy for Resilient Agri-Food System (RERAS) is a UNDP-led project funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy and jointly implemented by Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), LI-BIRD, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and World Food Programme (WFP) in the Sudurpaschim, Karnali, and Bagmati provinces.