National Institute of Technology

Oct 17, 2023

NIT Calicut celebrates International Year of Millets with various programmes

National Institute of Technology Calicut conducted various events on the campus on Monday as part of the national campaign on International Year of Millets-2023. The celebration included expert sessions on the Landscape of Millet in Kerala, Nutritional benefits and Value Addition Production, Processing and its Commercialization, a Poster Design Competition for School students as well as NITC students and an Exhibition -cum –sale of Millet based value-added products.

Dr. Asuma Rahim Professor and Head of Community Medicine at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, led a session on the health advantages of millets. The consumption of millet will help to reduce non-communicable diseases considerably as it contains high quantities of protein, calcium and iron, she said. She also urged to shift focus from water-consuming grains like rice and wheat to millet, which requires less effort and water.

Mr. P Prakash, Assistant Director of Agriculture, State Seed Farm, Perambra spoke about various options and techniques available for millet cultivation. Ms. P V Alfiya, a Scientist in Agriculture Structures and Process Engineering at the Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode discussed varieties of millets and their components.

The celebration also witnessed the participation of LP and UP school students and teachers from the nearby panchayats in the poster design competitions.

Exhibition -cum –sale of Millet based value-added products was set up by millet-based companies namely, Aldina Home Made Millet Store, Calicut; Ecoheal Agro products LLP, Calicut and Weleet Foods Calicut.

Prof. J Sudhakumar, Director in Charge of NIT Calicut, inaugurated the programme at Bhaskara Hall, NITC Campus. " Being a national institute, we consider it our responsibility to transfer knowledge to the local community apart from the student community on our campus," said Prof. Sudhakumar, during his inaugural address. Dr. M. S. Shamasundara, Registrar of NITC, Prof. G. K. Rajanikant, Dean (Student Welfare), Dr. Shyni Anilkumar, Nodal officer of IYoM 2023; Dr. Reju George Mathew, Faculty Coordinator of NSS Unit, and Dr. Suresh P. S., Faculty coordinator, Bio-diversity Club were also present.

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