Millets are often referred to as the crop of the future and India has been undergoing its own renaissance with this super food. Also, 2023 has been designated as the International Year of Millets by the UN, where India has been leading the discourse to develop the dialogue on millets globally.
The magic of millets holds the promise of unlocking a model of production that is good for us, the farmer, businesses, and good for the environment. In this podcast host Rathish Balakrishnan had the opportunity to speak to Mr. Sivakumar S, someone who deeply understands the Sarkar, the Samaj and the Bazaar of agriculture deeply with over 30 years of experience in the sector.
Mr. Sivakumar S is currently the group head of Agri and IT businesses at ITC Limited and is a member of its Corporate Management Committee. He also oversees ITC’s Sustainability and Social Investments programme. Mr. Sivakumar S has also been engaged as an advisor for the agricultural industry, at both a national and international level.
For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our Website, Linkedin, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Host: Rathish Balakrishnan | Linkedin | Twitter
- Guest: Sivakumar S | Linkedin | Twitter
- Producer: Meenakshi Iyer
- Audio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash Raikar
- Designer: Usha Sondhi Kundu
Contents of Episode
- 0:00 - Decoding Impact Introduction
- 0:51 - Introduction to topic and guest
- 02:26 - Consumer-side benefits and advantages of millets
- 05:54 - Other unique advantages of millets
- 10:52 - The farmer perspective
- 15:19 - Systemic challenges holding back the promise of millets
- 22:44 - Three-pronged approach to promote consumption of millets
- 27:05 - What it will take to mainstream millet consumption
- 30:30 - R&D to improve millet production
- 32:40 - Creating a decentralised infrastructure
- 35:36 - How else can we look at promoting millets?
- 39:42 - From the Green Revolution to the Brown Revolution
- 45:23 - Producers and the Green Revolution & industry sentiments towards millets
- 52:29 - Transferrable Learnings for Millets
- 56:47 - The role of philanthropy & the state
- 59:49 - Summary & Thanks
