Anna Mela-Millet Fair Cum Exhibition, Technical Conference organized at IIM Jammu

Jammu: Indian Institute of Management Jammu (IIM)in association with Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce (DICCI)and Theta Foundation for Development hosted the Shree Anna Mela (Jammu Millets Mela) and Technical Conference organized by Ministry of Food Processing Industries on 5th Oct 2023 at Radisson Blue, Jammu. The event brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to celebrate the rich biodiversity and agro-ecological practices of the state and explore the potential of millets in transforming the agricultural landscape.
The Chief Guest for the event was Indu Kanwal Chib, JKAS, Mission Director, JKRLM, J & K and Guest of Honor was Arun Manhas, MD, J & K State Agro Industries Development Corporation Ltd J & K. The event was formally inaugurated in presence of Prof. B.S. Sahay, Director, IIM Jammu, Mohammed Farooq Dar, Secretary, Agriculture Production and Family Welfare, Padmashree R.K. Narra, Gaurav Gupta, Theta Foundation for Development, Neha Ganju, Manager, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Cmdr. Kesavan Baskkaran (R), Chief Administrative Officer, IIM Jammu, Dr. Vivek Sharma, CIO, IIM Jammu, and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. The event kicked off with a vibrant schedule that included the arrival of dignitaries, the official inauguration of the exhibition, and a tour of the exhibition stalls by the distinguished guests.
In his special address, Prof. B. S. Sahay, Director, IIM Jammu credited the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and Ministry of Food Processing Industries in popularizing the importance of millets worldwide. He also urged everyone in India to incorporate millets in their daily diet to achieve a healthier lifestyle and abstain from unhealthy food. He reiterated that IIM Jammu promotes increased millet consumption and ensured a full day meal made of millet once a week to help the students and faculty attain a healthier lifestyle. He urged the farmers, academia and the industry people present here to join hands and collaborate with the organizing team and discuss the marketing, branding, and pricing of millet. He also emphasized that IIM Jammu will always be eager to facilitate the interested farmers and industry geeks in their initiatives. Lastly, he urged everyone present to promote millet consumption as it is chemical free and a healthier alternative.
Padmashree R.K. Narra, National President, Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce (DICCI)in his welcome address mentioned that the Anna Mela (Jammu Millets Mela) is a unique platform for all stakeholders to connect on a common platform. In his address, he made a reference to the age old healthy practice of using millets in their diet and having a healthy lifestyle. He said that Govt. India is now focusing on re-introducing health supplements having millets for promoting a healthy lifestyle among the masses. He urged all to join, collaborate, to promote, create awareness about millets leading to increased consumption and cultivation benefitting the farmers.
One of the highlights of The Shree Anna Mela is the presentation on the Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme by Secretary, Agriculture Production and Family Welfare, Mohammed Farooq Dar, shedding light on how this initiative can benefit local farmers and entrepreneurs. He gave a detailed overview with the statistics putting forward a true picture of the progress in the agricultural sector in the U.T of J & K.
Guest of Honor Arun Manhas, MD, J&K State Agro Industries Development Corporation Ltd. J & K in his special address talked about the various challenges ranging from product packaging, marketing, and making it reach the end users and invited support from the academia, industry for addressing these issues. He also suggested the government incorporate it in the public distribution system which will help to create increased awareness about millets in their daily diet. He also urged and emphasized the need to come together and contribute their part in increased awareness and usage of millets in our daily diet.
Chief Guest Indu Kanwal Chib, Mission Director, JKRLM, J&K in her special address mentioned that The Shree Anna Mela has been a testament to the potential of millets in enhancing food security, improving nutrition, and boosting the income of our farmers. She also spoke about various initiatives taken by JKRLM, J&K for promoting millet cultivation with women empowerment. She also expressed her gratitude towards all the partnering organizations and all the entrepreneurs, farmer fraternity from J&K for attending the event and making this initiative a huge success.
This inaugural ceremony ended with the vote of thanks by DICCI followed by Millet success stories by Avni Organics, Gian Network, Kishtwar Millets, Horti Producers Co-operative Limited, Krishi Nari Shakti and Sri Millets.
Shishram Tudwal, Zonal Manager of Central Bank of India, shared insights into financial assistance for farmers while Dr. Vivek Sharma, Chief Innovation Officer at IIM Jammu, discussed the adoption of next-generation technologies in millet agriculture. Sessions on AI, e-commerce SAAS platforms, storage technologies were chaired by IITB alumnus & entrepreneur Hari
Another session on millet production value addition & Millet processing were conducted by Dr. Meenakshi and Dr. Monika Sood, SKUAST respectively. These sessions aimed to equip attendees with the knowledge and tools necessary for the successful cultivation and processing of millets.
The parallelly running industry meet commenced with a presentation and promotional video by Dr. Neha Ganju, Manager, Ministry of Food Processing Industries briefing about the upcoming Food Expo 2023 and plethora of opportunities and schemes for entrepreneurs from the food sector from the U.T of J & K. This was followed by addresses by Prof. B.S. Sahay proposed that the industry, academia come together to create a healthy business ecosystem for millets and he also proposed the concept of having an industry meet at IIM Jammu. This was followed by Arun Manhas, and Shrimati Indu Kanwal Chib, focusing on promoting collaboration and industry growth in the millet sector.
Towards the end there was an open house interaction with industry and experts. The event concluded with a vote of thanks and ended on a positive note. The industry meet featured top-league entrepreneurs, industrialists from the Food sector in J & K. The industry interaction turned out to be a healthy discussion with an outcome to synergize the energies for creating increased awareness about millets, promoting the agro based products from India on a global scale.
The Shree Anna Mela – Millet Fair-cum-Exhibition was a day filled with innovation, learning, and networking opportunities, bringing together farmers, industry representatives, academia, experts, and enthusiasts under one roof. The event in true sense showcased Jammu’s agricultural heritage and the potential of millets in shaping the future of food processing.