Millet Magic: How 3,000 farmers sowed life on parched lands in Karnataka
Nearly 3,000 farmers came together to revive drought-stricken farmlands through cultivation of millets — quietly turning years of adversity into a sustainable success story.
This grassroots transformation was triggered by a prolonged five-year drought that devastated the region before 2021. Once dominated by water-intensive crops like soya, Bt cotton, and maize, the area was facing an agrarian crisis. With dwindling yields and incomes, farmers were searching for alternatives.
The answer came in the form of millets — climate-resilient, low-input crops that require minimal water.
Under the global CROPS4HD (Consumption of resilient orphan crops & products for healthier diets) project, the initiative is being implemented in Karnataka by SWISSAID India in collaboration with Sahaja Samruddha, an NGO promoting agro-biodiversity and organic farming. Six millet varieties — little millet, foxtail millet, barnyard millet, proso, kodo, and browntop — are now widely cultivated, alongside forgotten pulses like horse gram and moth bean, and traditional greens like amaranth.
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Anitha Reddy, director of Crops4HD project in Dharwad, said it's a mindset shift. "We started small, with farmers cultivating millets on just a quarter-acre each. As they saw better yields and reduced risks, confidence grew, and the acreage expanded."
To overcome skepticism, demonstration farms played a vital role. Devakumar, retired director of the University of Agricultural Sciences, explained agricultural melas and peer interactions helped farmers.
"They saw the crops, interacted with cultivators, and got technical inputs from experts. That changed their perspective."
In Nov 2022, 2,000 farmers came together to form Devadanya Farmer Producer Company, which now includes 5,000 members. The collective helps farmers access seeds, training, and better markets while promoting soil and water conservation. "With support from FPO, our input costs have dropped by up to 12%, and profits are finally visible," said Eshwaryagowda B Patil, a farmer and FPO director.
As Krishna Prasad of Sahaja Samruddha put it, "We're not just growing crops, we're cultivating resilience, confidence, and a more sustainable future for farming.
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A two-day seed festival kicked off Saturday in Bengaluru, organised by Institution of Agricultural Technologists along with Sahaja Samrudha, featuring participation from over 200 seed conservators across Karnataka and other states. Along with Devadanya FPO, there are 30 other stall exhibits, which include 100+ varieties of millets, over 1,000 paddy varieties, legumes, root crops, greens, and vegetables, including Bengal's pulses, Odisha's rice varieties, and tuber crops from Kerala's Wayanad region.
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Time of India
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You Can Also Check: Gurgaon AQI | Weather in Gurgaon | Bank Holidays in Gurgaon | Public Holidays in Gurgaon | Gold Rates Today in Gurgaon | Silver Rates Today in Gurgaon Effectively, this means that small patches of forests, Aravali hillocks with low density vegetation, scrublands, grasslands and community common lands will not be considered as 'forests'. The state's criteria explicitly exclude linear, compact and agro-forestry plantations, and orchards beyond notified forest areas, regardless of their size or density. Examples of linear plantations are roadside green belts, which are just a few metres wide though these can stretch up to several kilometres. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Is it better to shower in the morning or at night? Here's what a microbiologist says CNA Read More Undo Compact forests are smaller scale areas with dense greenery. "The Governor of Haryana is pleased to define the expression 'forest as per dictionary meaning" for the state of Haryana as follows: A patch of land shall be deemed to be forest as per dictionary meaning if it fulfils the following conditions: Firstly, it has a minimum area of 5 hectares, if it is in isolation; and a minimum area of two hectares, if it is in contiguity with govt-notified forests. Secondly, it has a canopy density of 0.4 or more. Provided that, all linear/compact/agro-forestry plantations and orchards situated outside the govt-notified forests shall not be treated as forest under the above definition," the notification signed by Anand Mohan Sharan, additional chief secretary (environment, forests and wildlife), read. Haryana's definition, formed nearly six decades after the state came into existence, is narrower than the principle defined by Supreme Court in its landmark ruling in the 1996 TN Godavarman vs Union of India case. 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