CSIR-CFTRI Director Sridevi Annapurna Singh on Tuesday told schoolchildren about the importance of millets for a healthy life and advised them to spread awareness on the benefits of having millets in our daily diet.
Presiding over a programme organised on the occasion of National Science Day in association with the Department of Public Instruction, Mysuru, the Millets Jigyasa Programme in view of the International Year of Millets and the Student-Scientist connect initiative, on the CFTRI campus, she said millets are the powerhouse of nutrients that are key for keeping a good health.
“If we don’t consume nutrients, we may not be well nourished. If there was no nutrition, one may feel tired and develop health issues. To overcome all these issues, one has to consume millets. One can have a menu diversity but one meal a day with millets is necessary for all your life,” she advised, in her address.
Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Director of Public Instruction Ramachandra Raje Urs, who was the chief guest, thanked the CSIR-CFTRI for organising the student-scientist connect programme and giving an opportunity for the schoolchildren to explore the premier institution.
“Today is a special day for our children since a few of them got to see this reputed institution. The experience you had visiting this reputed institute must be told to your friends, parents and others. The department would be keen to support such initiatives with the CFTRI in future for the benefit of students,” the DDPI said.
He advised the children to educate others on what they learnt about millets while attending the programme in CFTRI today. Their awareness on this will help farmers who can produce more millets if the demand for millets was created.
On the occasion, education expert H.S. Nagaraja from Prayoga Institute of Education Research, Bengaluru, who delivered a talk on physics, told two stories explaining the need for believing in ourselves and keep trying until we achieve.
He explained how Tenzing Norgay climbed Mount Everest despite several hurdles and failures and what drove him not to lose hope on realising his dream. “Keep on improving yourselves for achieving something big in life. Have faith in yourselves,” he said in his address to the schoolchildren.
In view of the millets’ initiative, the children received millet powder produced by the CFTRI based on the technology developed by it.
Earlier, a documentary on the importance of millets was screened. Describing millets as “super foods”, the documentary narrates why millets are so important for us and why they need to be made part ofour diet, with the UN declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets. The gluten-free nutraceuticals and the lower glycemic index in millets are good for our health and millets help in weight reduction, it explained.
The students were taken around the facilities on the sprawling campus.
Earlier in the day, M.R.N. Murthy, Emeritus Professor, IISc, Bengaluru, delivered the National Science Day lecture at the IFTTC auditorium in CFTRI on “Excursions in the wonderland of Proteins.”
