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Rama University Students Explore the Potential of Millet Exports at CSA Kanpur Seminar
21 Mar 2023
Rama University's Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Allied Industries recently organized a seminar visit for their students to Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology in Kanpur. The seminar, titled "Millet Export: Creating Opportunities for New Entrepreneurs", was jointly organized by J.D.G.F.T Kanpur and C.S.A.U.A.T Kanpur. The purpose of the program was to promote the export potential of agricultural commodities, with a specific focus on millets.
Millet is a highly nutritious crop and an important source of energy in semi-arid and drought-prone regions of Asia and Africa. However, nutritional insecurity is a major issue in these regions, as people are often deficient in micronutrients due to a diet that is primarily based on cereals. Biofortification of staple crops, such as millets, is an economically feasible approach to combat this issue.
The program had a broad scope, covering a range of activities aimed at improving the value of millets and increasing millet exports. This included policy support for millet production and export, research and development to improve millet yield and quality, value addition through processing, packaging and branding, promotion of millet as a healthy and nutritious food, negotiation of trade agreements to reduce trade barriers, and the value addition chain.
Around 50 students from Rama University's Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Allied Industries attended the seminar and were impressed by the hospitality of the host families at CSA Kanpur. The seminar provided students with valuable insights into the latest research and development in the field of agriculture, including the identification of genes and quantitative trait loci linked to protein quality in finger millet, and the use of transgenic expression of zinc transporters to develop high grain zinc.
After the seminar, the students had the opportunity to visit the CSA Kanpur campus, where they experienced live crop demonstrations, protected cultivation of flowers and vegetables, and different types of farm machines. Overall, the program was a great success and provided students with valuable knowledge and insights into the potential of millet exports in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty.