It has been dubbed “The Millit Project” and the aim is to confront one of the key challenges facing modern agriculture.
Millets, a diverse group of ancient, gluten-free grains. have been a cornerstone of cuisine in India and other countries for thousands of years.
They need significantly less water than rice and are naturally resilient to drought and extreme weather such as the heatwave currently engulfing Europe and Britain.
Millets are known to be a sustainable, climate-resilient and nutritious food source but it is felt their full potential is yet to be realised.
That is where an ambitious new initiative comes in.
It aims to evaluate the grain’s suitability as a profitable food crop in the UK and Europe.
One of those involved in the project is UK chef Dev Biswal who is pioneering the farm-based investigation to assess whether proso millet can become a sustainable, climate-resilient spring break crop for UK agriculture.
Biswal, who owns the award-winning The Cook’s Tale restaurant and Café Marrakech in Canterbury, is working with local farmer Emma Loder-Symonds of Nonington Farms in Kent.
The initiative is the first robust scientific and commercial assessment of the grain and involves DEFRA with funding from Innovate UK. It will assemble a wider consortium of farmers, scientists, food specialists to evaluate the grain’s suitability as a profitable UK-grown food crop.
During a culinary research trip to India last year, for his The Cook’s Adventures travel arm, Dev witnessed first-hand how millet grains are transforming diets and livelihoods across the country.
“As a chef, I was fascinated not only by their nutritional value but also by their remarkable flavour, versatility and culinary potential.” said Biswal, who already uses imported millet on his menus.
Millets have been a cornerstone of Indian cuisine for thousands of years, particularly in his home state of Odisha, where they have traditionally been cultivated in some of the country’s most challenging agricultural environments.
“What struck me most was how relevant these ancient grains are to the challenges facing modern agriculture.”
Millets require significantly less water than rice, thrive in harsh growing conditions and are naturally resilient to drought and extreme weather. Research suggests some millet varieties require up to 70% less water than rice while maintaining strong nutritional value. Millet grains are naturally gluten-free and could benefit from the growing interest in fermented food and gut health.
“When I met Emma Loder-Symonds and the team at Nonington Farms, I realised we shared a common vision: finding practical and commercially viable solutions to future food security and climate challenges.”
The relationship began through Dev sourcing local ingredients for his restaurants. Throughout that collaboration, he was impressed by the farm’s willingness to innovate and explore alternative crops and sustainable farming practices. The pair have previously worked together using organically grown wheat from the farm to produce Indian flatbreads, alongside locally grown seasonal vegetables.
Millet and beans were drilled in May 2026 at trial sites in Kent and Bedfordshire, seeking to establish millet as a viable UK-grown grain for human consumption, providing arable farmers with new opportunities whilst catering to a demand for nutritious, gluten-free and environmentally sustainable crops.
Despite already being grown in the UK as birdseed, millet’s potential as a high-value human crop food is mostly uninvestigated.
The project will utilise field-scale trials in Kent and Bedfordshire, nutritional analysis, pre-processing research and recipe development led by Mr Biswal.
Amid increasing climate pressures and arable growers searching for alternatives to traditional break crops such as oilseed rape, the project aims to deliver the first robust scientific and commercial assessment of proso millet’s role in UK food and farming systems.
The Mill-it Project leader, Emma Loder-Symonds, said: “We are excited to explore the potential of millet as a food crop in the UK. Working alongside scientists and farmers across the country, we will trial how millet could fit into British rotations and food systems and investigate how processing and fermentation may improve its nutritional value.
