In the wake of the International Year of Millets to be observed in 2023, Heartfulness is launching an Experience Centre for Millets coinciding with the Birth Anniversary of the fourth spiritual guru of Heartfulness, Kamlesh Patel ‘Daaji’. The centre aims to bring more and better awareness on the health benefits and goodness of millets as superfoods.
The year 2018 was declared India’s Year of Millets. As more and more people came to understand the benefits of millets, the Indian Government won a mandate at the United Nations with 70 countries signing up to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets. India has played a pivotal role in this direction. Motivated by this, Heartfulness chose to establish the Experience Centre for Millets in association with Samunnati Foundation and Indian Institute of Millets Research (a wing of Indian Council for Agricultural Research) and Nutrihub from Indian Institute of Management to create an ecosystem for Farmer Producer Organisation across production to yield phase. As a Public Private Partnership initiative, Samunnati Foundation and Nutrihub have signed an MoU to pave the way for FPOs and together with Heartfulness will promote awareness and experience while there will be involvement of startups as well in the machinery and processing aspects of the centre. The idea will be to enable everyone to get a 360 degree view of millets at the centre.
Many such experience centres are likely to be established at other Heartfulness centres across the world, where all the millets will be organically produced using Hearticulture resources, beginning with the one launching today at Kanha Shanti Vanam the Heartfulness Headquarters. Not only will the institute grow all the major and minor millets, but also will have various units for processing, cooking and consumption units wherein people will have the opportunity to understand the production cycle of millets and be able cook a variety of recipes. There will also be a facility for ready-to-cook or ready-to-eat millet recipes at the centre. This apart, millets-soup dispensers or vending machines will be the highlight for visitors.
Secretary of Agriculture Ministry, Manoj Ahuja said on the launch, “While rice and wheat have been the staples of this country, people have begun to understand the health and nutrition benefits of millets. There needs to be more awareness in eating healthy, eating right, and the beauty of consuming millets. The Experience Centre for Millets, is aligned with the goals of the International Year of Millets next year. As more and more people come to experience the variety of recipes, they get to experience the health benefits as well.”
Speaking on the launch, the Guide of Heartfulness, Pic 5 : Guide of Heartfulness Shri Kamlesh Patel ‘Daaji’ seen distributing copies of his upcoming book ‘Wisdom Bridge’ to thousands participants at the Bhandara celebrations at Kanha Shanti Vanam, the Headquarters of Heartfulness in the outskirts of Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Kamlesh Patel ‘Daaji’ said, “Millets are incredibly healthy owing to the low glycemic index and because they are gluten-free. Given the number of diabetic patients in India, and still a number of those who are allergic to gluten, millets make a wonderful substitute. At Heartfulness we have been promulgating a simple lifestyle that keeps your body, mind and spirit healthy. A healthy diet plays a vital role in wellness. There are a number of crops grown at our Hearty Culture facility, we thought why not add the millet range to it. I am very happy that we have Samunnati Foundation, IIMR and Nutrihub associating with us on this for a better yield, FPOs and enabling consumer experience at our centre.”
Gopalakrishnana, Founder and CEO of Samunnati Foundation said, “We are expecting a lot of action around the International Year of Millets. We decided to come forward and sensitise people about the benefits of millets, and also offer an experience for the consumers to carry with them. People can come to the Experience Centre for Millets at Heartfulness and enjoy cooking a number of recipes that will be made handy for them. Visitors can also enjoy the millets-soup from vending machines which will be a healthy option as opposed to synthetic soups. We wish to do our bit in spreading awareness towards the International Year of Millets this way. The launch of the centre is likely to attract more attention on making millets part of a healthy daily diet,” he added.
Read More: SDM Group launches Kshemavana, a Wellness and Naturopathy Retreat Center
