<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">A two day Millet Festival is being celebrated at the ongoing Hornbill Festival at Naga Heritage Village Kisama, marking the culmination of the International Year of Millets (IYoM) 2023 Nagaland Chapter.</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">Addressing the event on Saturday (2nd December 2023), Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has emphasized the need to incorporate modern farming with technical knowledge and scientific research in order to enhance production and increase economic viability.</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">Rio expressed delight that farmers, especially in the Eastern Areas of Nagaland, are cultivating traditional crops like millets.</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">He urged more people to cultivate millets and emphasized the Agriculture department's role in purchasing and distributing quality seeds to encourage farming in all sectors.</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">Advisor for Agriculture Mhathung Yanthan said, area under millets production in the state increased from 12,000 to 19,000 hectares during 2023.</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">The Chief Minister released the policy, "Revitalising Millets in Northeast India," published by the University of Reading, UK, and Himalayan University Consortium Thematic Working Group on Mountain Agriculture. Mr Rio also presented various awards on millets during the event.</span></p>