The Union Agriculture Ministry has approved Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, as a Centre of Excellence for bajra. Stating this in Hisar, the university's Director (Research) R. P. Narwal said Rs. 1 crore has been sanctioned to popularise bajra , known as the primary food of the poor. He said since bajra has high nutritive value, its popularisation as a foodgrain and regular crop would ensure food security for the people. Due to the low demand for bajra , farmers are not inclined to take up its production. “Increasing the rates of this crop would ensure an increase in its demand, which would further lead to better market rates for the farmers,” he said. Emphasising the need for development of bio-fortified hybrid varieties of bajra , Dr. Narwal said there is need to develop value-added processed foods from it. “Fifteen-year-long efforts of Salil Sehgal and Asha Kwatra of the Food and Nutrition Department, supported by the hard work of the varsity post-graduate students, were instrumental in getting this distinction,” he added.