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Ragi ...A Wonder Grain!
Ragi ... also known as millet, nachni, sollu, or sattemavu ...
• grows well without irrigation, pesticides or fertilisers
• is rich in calcium iron, protein and some rare nutrients such as methionine
• digests easily from infancy through old age, and its nutrients are highly absorbed
• costs much less than wheat, rice, or dairy milk, while delivering superior nutrition
So it is no wonder that AID India and many other groups make ragi a
cornerstone of health counseling programs addressing malnourishment
among young children and new mothers.
Family in Srikakulam receives a packet of sprouted ragi flour
Often village health volunteers taking ragi packets door-to-door also
need to overcome
the giggles when they talk about this hardy cereal,
which seems so homely alongside pricey
packaged biscuits, “energy”
snacks and drink mixes.
Baby Dilleswari reaches out for a packet of sprouted ragi flower ... yumm!
Sad but true, this traditional staple grain is rapidly falling out of fashion!
In fact, Deccan Herald
reports that ragi:
“has lost 31 per cent of its cropping area...Unless
the government policy changes drastically, dry land farming will die
and so will dry land farmers.”
Farmer working in ragi field, Santakavita Mandal, District Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh.
This endangers food security and livelihood security of the country.
While ragi is an ideal first food after an infant reaches at least 6
months of age, the impact of advertising is such that many people, not
recognizing the value of their traditional homegrown, homemade food are
choosing packaged infant foods made from refined wheat or rice, and
even earlier than 6 months. Sprouting ragi increases the
bioavailability of its iron to 88%, comparable only to mother’s milk
(and 8 times higher than cow’s milk). Without always knowing the
numbers, villagers and cityfolk have sprouted grains and beans for
variety. When we lose these healthy habits, our traditional homegrown,
homemade food needs a make-over. Today a growing urban market seeks organic, sprouted ragi flour, ragi
biscuits, etc. Jaws dropped in Srikakulam when I mentioned the price of
organic, sprouted ragi flour in Mumbai shops – Rs. 100/kg. For only Rs.
1-2/kg they bought local organic ragi, sprouted it and ground it
freshly at home. Unless they had already switched to commercial “baby
foods,” which not only cost more, but do not deliver equivalent
nutrition. They may contain added sugar, preservatives, and chemical
residues. Moreover, poorer families may use these inferior but
expensive substitutes sparingly, whereas if they were to eat ragi, the
whole family, including the women, especially lactacting mothers, could
have their fill.
What other foods do we need to reincorporate into our lives to help
live more lightly, keep small scale farming viable, keep healthy food
affordable and keep ourselves and our planet healthy ? As Sainath points out, jowar is another crop that is not only nutritious, but provides fodder for cows. While the government has touted its "Cow Program" to relieve struggling farmers in Vidarbha, the farmers struggle even more to provide fodder for these cows. One farmer noted that government support for jowar as a food grain would also provide fodder for the cows. Unfortunately nietehr ragi nor jowar are currently supported by the Public Distribution System (except in a few regions). Times of India noted on Feb 28, 2007: "
In
many states, jowar, bajra and ragi are staple foods of the poor, but these
coarse cereals are not covered by PDS. Poor people in these states end up eating
wheat and rice. There is no export market for these coarse cereals either. So,
prices of these cereals keep falling. The worst part is that these crops are
grown by the very poor — marginal farmers on non-irrigated land. The very
poor keep getting poorer as there are no takers for the foodgrains they grow
— not even the poor." Rediscover traditional foods and sustain these for all!
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