The amazing brown top millet !

Sahaja Samrudha (Bengaluru) & Dhanya (Tumkur) have published a book on brown top millet recently (Adbhuta siridhanya korale, Kannada, second edition, 2016, Rs. 60/-). Written by the prolific and ever green Mallikarjun Hosapalya, the first thing that stood out about this book were the many and colorful photographs.

Brown top millet (btm) is even lesser known among the already less known small millets. The photographs included in the book helps build a connection between the reader, the millet and the millet farmers at a level that written words cannot. Though, I did flip through the book multiple times looking for two photographs but could not find – an image of the hulled btm rice and a clear photograph of the grains separated from each other so that their full profile can be seen against a contrasting background along with a size bar / ruler to give the reader a visual idea of how small the grains are.

Reading the book I was happy to note that it brought to light some lesser known details of btm – for eg. that it grows even in a tamarind tree’s shade. The nutritional profile of btm is another important information that one cannot find easily even on the internet. Given the importance of the nutritional content of these grains and the lack of reliable information online, I looked for more information on the sample collection, preparation and testing of the samples, including the standard scientific protocol followed. Thanks to the publishers and author, unlike many other books, contact information of different people who know about these grains and can provide information about them have been painstakingly put together. I was able to use this information to contact the researchers cited for the nutritional data. I was informed that the full scientific publication is yet to be published and that once done, it would be shared widely – a very justified reason for not publishing it in this book. Quite a few other readers of this book would, I am sure, join me in looking forward to the full scientific publication, in wishing the researchers luck and in offering our support in whatever way possible to further the cause of promoting btm consumption, production and processing.

There are two important things that I feel were missed in compiling the book. The first is a matter of geography while the second is a critical aspect in promoting the grain.

(1) btm is grown and consumed in reasonable quantity in north central India – the region commonly referred to as Bundelkhand. It is called fikara (ಫಿಕಾರ, फिकार) in the local language and the roti made from these are locally called ‘ghaas ki roti’ or ‘roti made from grass’. When I read about this in the news late last year, this is what caught my attention and I immediately thought, this has to be a millet. Thanks to social media I was able to connect with Ravi Badri working near there. When we received some samples of the grains, we realized that it was indeed a millet and none other than btm. The hardiness of this amazing grain requires no further elaboration when one realizes that these grains had grown in the third successive year of drought in the region ! A quick search online (for urochloa ramosa its current scientific name) reveals that there are published reports of their existence and / or cultivation in Bangladesh; Bhutan; Cambodia; India (Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra); Malawi; Myanmar; Nepal; Senegal; South Africa; Yemen; Zimbabwe.

(2) The other important aspect is a package of practice for the cultivating btm. As highlighted in this book, btm is a prolific plant and it has rightly been pointed out that after one or two seasons of sowing btm seeds, the farmer does not need to sow the field again. Future crops of btm grow with the only effort needed from the farmer being that for harvesting the grains. This is a double edged sword. The hardiness and survival instincts of btm are honed over millennia and are clearly demonstrated in two related characteristics. (i) Each of its nodes, just like its wilder brethren in the grass (poaceae) family, is a source of new roots. As new tillers emerge, the older ones curve out and form a parabolic profile. And as they do so, roots from more and more nodes strike the soil, expanding its resource access, reinvigorating the plant.

A flourishing Brachiaria Ramosa photographed in a Proso millet field near Kadiri, A.P. on 20th Oct 2015.

secondary roots being pushed at even the 4th node in bracharia ramosa (ಕೊರ್ಲು, అండు కొర్ర) at a farm near Kadiri, A.P. as captured in this photograph on 20th Oct 2015.

This recurring recharging renders its second amazing characteristic – continued flowering and a continued and extended reproductive phase. (ii) At any point in time, a mature btm plant will have panicles in various stages of maturity. So while the farmer would plan harvesting considering the degree of grain ripening across the field, each of the plants would have shed multiple grains onto the soil seeding their next generation. So if necessary on farm practices are not employed from the first season itself, a farmer will start seeing btm as a weed in their land almost from the very next cultivation season. Therefore it is very important to promote btm with a package of practices and necessary trainings and guidance to the farmers where btm cultivation is being introduced.

It is very heartening to read about the efforts of some of the new initiatives including that of the youth from Gopalanahalli in Chikkanayakahalli Taluk, Tumkur Dt. of Karnataka. We need more such initiatives and many more such farmers to start making a shift in the way we treat land, farming, ecology and our own nutrition. The publication of this book is among the first steps in the right direction. Given the ongoing farm crisis and the relief that crops such as btm offer, I request the publishers to go for English, Hindi and other regional language translations of this work at the earliest. Those of us who are working on promoting small millets and can read Kannada now have a very useful aid at hand when talking about and promoting btm.

Neelgai and a green rose

Neelgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), are the largest asian antelope, endemic to the gangetic plains in India. Their name literally translates to blue-cow, but neither are they blue nor are they cows or even related to cows.

Large scale deforestation in the gangetic plains and the nearby foothills of the himalayas have forced these majestic beauties to adapt. And adapt they have; a little too well for modern humans.

Having evolved in the grasslands and dry scrub forests in these parts, they now roam freely across agricultural farms merrily grazing. The increase in sugarcane cultivation has provided them with sufficient safe zones to rest during the harsh sunny days. And oh the menu that the farmers fields offer make for sumptuous early lunches and dinners. The depleted forest covers came well after the big carnivores were decimated by hunting and other forms of killing predators that humans have indulged in for many centuries in these parts. Given their misconceived name as an undomesticated relative of the cow, and the Hindu veneration of anything even remotely related to cows, they are not hunted or killed by most people.

Green rose – the remains of a young sorghum plant after it was grazed on by neelgai

So for a few decades now, there has been plenty of food, shelter and barely any predators – a fertile ground for population explosion. And that is exactly what has happened. So far, farmers have silently accepted that this is their fate and swallowed the bitter pill of loosing their primary source of food. The better off sections of society, in both villages and cities, and especially those running the govt., do not see the farmers’ plight and often make fun of their appeals for relief.

Part of the rally held on 8th Aug 2016 in Sitapur town to flag the issue of neelgai menace.

In Sitapur, the small and marginal farmers have decided they have had enough and that things have to change. After meetings within the sanghatan in its different blocks, a rally was taken out in Sitapur Town on 8th Aug 2016. A memorandum signed by members of the sanghatan and affected farmers was submitted to the District Magistrate. In typical bureaucratic style, a consultation meeting with all stakeholders has been promised. In the mean time, the sanghatan is planning a series of discussions in villages to build the momentum for a stronger mobilization on the issue.

Good monsoon, bad monsoon

I was in Sitapur, U.P. for a few days to see how the recently sown mixed crop were faring this year in our friends’ farms.

After two successive failed kharif, everyone was relieved and welcomed the rains. The farms are lush green after the many rains this season.

Almost all the farmers we work with are dalits and their small and marginal land holdings are invariably in low lying areas. It’s also not a surprise that many of them have uneven lands with patches of sandy or sometime loamy soil. Whenever the rains are enough for the water to flow, their farms flood and it takes a couple of days for this to drain.

After the initial rains, the farmers prepared their farms and finished sowing in time for the following rains. Now, these turned out to be heavier than expected and a few have lost all their crop as their entire farm went under water for extended periods so soon after sowing.

Even in those farms where crops have survived, frequent rains are making it near impossible to take up weeding – the soil is too wet. Any weeding activity would take too much effort and/or hurt the crop plants’ roots. So the farmers wait for a dry spell, seeing the weeds taking over their farms.

A wet and slushy field after a night of heavy rains in Pipri, Sitapur Dt. UP

A pest making hay when the sun doesn’t shine !

This monsoon season, we are also seeing that despite normal rainfall, both day and night time temperatures have been higher than normal. So this makes for warm (bordering on hot), humid days with overcast skies – ideal conditions for pests to flourish in. Another potential disaster that most small farmers are in too weak a position (now) to avert.

There are sustainable organic farming steps that one can take to mitigate losses from these conditions too. It will be a couple more years of sustained work before our farmer friends from Sitapur can get there. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we will get there before its too late.

But coming back to today, the meteorological department does say that the rains have been normal so far. And policy makers, commodity traders and economic forecasters have started calculating how good the harvest is going to be. But for the small farmers, the uncertainty of agriculture does not end with monsoon forecasts.

PS: The higher than normal winter temperatures this year (the el-nino/nina effect) effectively cut the wheat harvest to a third in many families’ farms in these parts. And I do remember reading about the higher than normal temperature in July in Delhi even after the monsoon had moved in. I searched to see if someone has written about the change in temperature patterns in other parts in the later part of monsoon, but couldn’t find one. If you have come across one, please do share. If you are interested to look this up from raw data and do it as project, please do ping me.

Solutions looking for problems

People, many a time well meaning ones, identify that they have a solution that can be used to solve so many problems. They go about hunting for these problems. When you have a hammer in your hand, everything looks like a nail. Unless you stop yourself and learn to look further beyond the hammer in your hand.

So it is now with millet cultivation. It is exciting to see so many farmers trying to cultivate millets again. But the Agriculture officers have a hammer and millets are the new nails. Just read this in a news report from Madurai …

Farmers can also claim 50% subsidy on micro nutrient inputs for millet fields, the department announced. All the extension centres are adequately stocked with certified seeds, agricultural inputs like solid and liquid nutrients and fertilisers.

So many in the sustainable farming movement are promoting millets and some amongst us are trying to engage with the system trying to work it to the benefit of the small and marginal farmers. This news report shows how the system responds and squelches any hope people might have of seeing a change in the approach of those in power.

The struggle continues.