HYDERABAD: 'Millet Man' PV Satheesh , founder and executive director of Deccan Development Society (DDS), died at a city hospital on Sunday after prolonged illness. He was 77.
He was known for his work in promoting not only millets, but also in working for building an alternate and ecologically-sustainable food system. Incidentally, the 'Millet Man' passed away at a time when the United Nations has declared 2023 the International Year of Millets.
Deccan Development Society, a grassroots organization working for access and control of poor and marginalized women farmers on their land & crops, operates from Pastapur village in Sangareddy district. Sateesh's final rites would be held at Pastapur on Monday.
Satheesh was the driving force behind large-scale millet cultivation and organic agriculture by women's groups, earning him the sobriquet 'Millet Man'. He was also instrumental in the establishment of a local public distribution system run entirely by woman farmers and based solely on millet crops.
Periyapatna Venkatasubbaiah Satheesh, a graduate of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, began his career as a journalist in Mysore, Karnataka. He went on to work as a television producer for Doordarshan for nearly two decades, producing programmes about rural development and literacy in the united Andhra Pradesh.
He previously served on the board of Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN) in Barcelona, Spain, and on the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) in Brussels, Belgium. Agriculture minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy expressed grief over the demise of the 'Millet Man' and said he did pioneering work in promoting millets in the state and country.
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