There are times in our lives that push us beyond the confines of comfort zones to do things that we might have never previously considered of being capable.
L. Prasad (52), despite working as a private employee in Chennai, is a passionate farmer from annur village, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. His wife- Sai Deepa (43) is not just a partner of his life but also a partner of his accomplishment.
Prasad is a practitioner of organic integrated farming which includes millets (Ragi-finger millet, little millet, brown top millet, foxtail millet), paddy, sesame, groundnut, turmeric, maize, veggies like ladyfinger, white onions, sweet potato, chilli, peas, brinjal, spinach, radish in their mango groove.
“You have to be odd to be number one”, being a farmer who loves exploring with new agri moves, he was the trend setter of his locality by starting the millet revolution after which few other farmers stepped in for the same. He says happiness lies when four other farmers get inspired following your success steps and grow successful. Indeed millets have become a hot topic under health diet in today’s world. The seed of millets were sown into this couple’s mind when they came across a video by Dr. Khadar Vali stating its health benefits after which millets were a part of diet for their family. Deepa cooks over dozens of dishes with millets and in fact the couple did see a positive change in them. Millets from their farm have in fact become a stable food for them where they mandatorily include it in diet for breakfast in the form of kanji daily.
Prasad then decided to cultivate the small yet mighty millets of different kinds. The millet couple and their two children consume combos of 6 millets by different tasty dishes. From there on there was no looking back for the millets couple. Internet was a great guide for PRASAD to explore about millets. At the initial stages the processing of millets required lot of man power and time which was a hurdle. Prasad could leap over this hurdle through Buchi machine (Dehulling mixer grinder) for processing the millets. He says it is one of the easy crops to cultivate.
Astonishingly the couple has inspired around forty plus families till date stating the possible dishes with different kinds of millets with health benefits of consuming them according to their health limitations resulting in a positive change for these beneficiaries too. Yes, you can touch people's lives by your existence . They haven't chosen the path of millets commercially but have touched many lives by creating awareness and standing as a live example after proving it to them. Hence justifying the title – The Millet couple.