First Millet Symposium to Celebrate National Millet Day

 Kathmandu, Nepal | July 2025
 Millet, a highly nutritious yet underutilized crop, continues to receive limited attention in both national and international markets. Recognizing its nutritional, environmental, and economic importance, the Government of Nepal has declared Shrawan 16 as National Millet Day.
To mark the occasion, the Agro Enterprise Center and FNCCI, in collaboration with the Nepal Millet and Buckwheat Federation and R&D Innovative Solution Pvt. Ltd., are organizing the First Millet Symposium on Shrawan 16. The symposium aims to raise awareness, explore policy gaps, and promote millet throughout the agricultural value chain.
In preparation for the event, a preliminary coordination meeting was held on Shrawan 4 at the FNCCI meeting hall. The meeting brought together organizing committee members, producers, collectors, exporters, and key value chain actors to discuss millet production, marketing constraints, and future policy directions.
Mr. Dipendra Kumar Joshi, CEO of the Agro Enterprise Center, delivered a detailed presentation on the current status and prospects of millet in Nepal. He noted that while millet has cultivation potential in all 77 districts, the National Gene Bank identifies Karnali Province as the leader in terms of production. As per government data from fiscal year 2078/79 B.S. (2021/22 A.D.), millet was cultivated on 267,071 hectares, yielding a total production of 339,462 metric tons nationwide.
The interactive session highlighted major bottlenecks in millet promotion, including limited access to production inputs, inadequate market access for rural producers, and frequent price fluctuations.
Mrs. Sunita Nhemaphuki, CEO of R&D Innovative Solution Pvt. Ltd., emphasized the organization's continued efforts to connect rural millet producers with urban markets. “We are committed to supporting farmers by ensuring market access for their millet production, so marketing will not be an issue,” she stated. She also noted R&D’s active role in marketing millet from remote districts such as Bajhang.
The discussion further stressed the importance of branding millet products to secure fair prices and increase consumer appeal. The upcoming symposium is expected to serve as a milestone event in advocating for millet as a climate-resilient, health-promoting crop and in strengthening market systems and policies to support its cultivation and commercialization in Nepal.