In 2024, the District Agriculture Office and Kezoma Village Council initiated millet revival by sourcing and distributing seeds from across Nagaland to farmers. The Millet cultivation in Kezoma village had been completely stopped for over a decade leaving an entire generation of children growing up without any knowledge of millet as a traditional crop. However, in 2024, an initiative was launched to revive millet cultivation in Kezoma village, starting from a baseline of zero hectares. Initially, efforts focused on motivating farmers to resume millet cultivation. Through continuous farmer mobilization and awareness programmes highlighting the nutritional and economic potential of millet, farmers were encouraged to take up the crop again. As a result, millet cultivation increased from zero hectares to 1ha within the very first year of the initiative.

The District Agriculture Office, Kohima played a vital role by providing a Millet Mill, reducing post-harvest labour drudgery by 80% and significantly contributing to the expansion of millet cultivation. Witnessing the ease, speed, and reduced drudgery of millet processing, a strong enthusiasm grew among the villagers, motivating more farmers to take up millet cultivation and significantly expanding its adoption across the villages. In 2025, Kezoma village organised its first-ever Millet Festival, marking a major milestone in the revival of millet cultivation and creating a platform to celebrate, promote, and raise awareness about the crop among farmers and the wider community. Approximately 4000 kg of millet grain was showcased and marketed, with a productivity of 20-25 q/ha across 2 hectares. The initiative generated an impressive income of approximately ₹13-14 lakh in a single day through the sale of millet grain and a range of value-added millet products. Building on this remarkable success, the area under millet cultivation doubled in 2026, reflecting the growing confidence and enthusiasm among farmers towards millet cultivation and its economic potential. Owing on this success, The District Office further assisted the village with a millet thresher and an additional millet mill.

In 2026, millet cultivation recorded an average yield of 2000-2500 kg/ha, with total village production reaching 12,000-13,000 kg. The journey from zero cultivation to 12-13 tonnes of village-level production in just two years demonstrates the potential of millet as a profitable and sustainable livelihood option, when supported by technical guidance, mechanisation, and market linkages. The District Agriculture Office has also introduced second-cropping of millet in 2025 on a small scale, initially on an experimental basis to assess its feasibility and potential for wider adoption. Following the successful harvest, farmers were encouraged to adopt a second millet crop within the same year. As a result, approximately 2 hectares have been brought under the second millet crop this year, with the harvest expected by November.

Under PDMC, a sprinkler irrigation system was provided to address water shortages and support the second millet crop, enabling year-round cultivation and transforming the field into a productive multi-crop system. This success story demonstrates how sustained departmental support, strengthening mechanisation has boosted farmer's production and facilitated its replication in other villages.

(Zuchumo Kithan, IA Kohima)