healthy. More than two decades since he launched his mission, India’s
‘Millet Man’ Dr Khadar Valli Dudekula was recognised by the government of
India with the civilian honour Padma Shri.Dr Valli is the scientist who made the world realise the importance of food
grains. He has numerous researches to his name and has worked extensively
for revival of grains over 20 years. As per The Better India, Dr Valli woke
up to the problem of diet-related consequences in society around 1986-87
when he came across the case of a girl who had started menstruating at 6
years of age. Shocked by this, he decided to return to his country in 1997
and settled in Mysuru to work towards a healthy society rather than in a
foreign nation.
Dr Valli is an independent scientist and food expert. In his pioneering
work, he has revived five types of disappearing millets. He is a leading
advocate of Millet cultivation and use. He was born in a humble background
in Kadapa District of Andhra Pradesh. He pursued his BSc (Education) and
MSc (Education) from Regional College of Education, Mysuru before earning a
PhD in Steroids from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Besides
being an agricultural scientist, he is also a homoeopath.
After completing education in India, he became a postdoctoral fellow in
environmental science at Beaverton, Oregon for three years. He then worked
as a scientist with Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI)
for four years before working with DuPont for a year in India and four plus
years in the US. He discovered medicinal properties of grains during his
research and named 5 specific types of grains he prescribed as
“Siridhanyalu”.
